JUDGMENT :

A.S. Chandurkar, J.

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally with the consent of learned counsel for the parties.

2. Since common issues arise in all these writ petitions they are being decided together by this common judgment.

3. For the sake of convenience, the facts in Writ Petition No. 1406/2019 are being referred to:

According to the petitioner, he had applied for grant of mining lease to the Collector. After obtaining a no objection certificate along with a resolution passed by the Gram Panchayat, the said application was duly considered. In the light of necessary reports submitted by the Tahsildar and the consent granted by the Competent Authority, the Collector on 11.09.2013 granted mining lease in favour of the petitioner for a period of fifteen years. Pursuant to grant of that lease the petitioner commenced his mining operations. The provisions of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 (for short, 'the Code') came to be amended by Maharashtra Act No. 34 of 2017 and the provisions of Section 22 A came to be inserted therein. As per those provisions, any land set apart by the Collector for free pasturage of village cattle known as "Gairan land" was not