V. S. DESHPANDE, J.

( 1 ) THE petitioners in this and the connected writ petition No. 110 of 1968 are owners of houses situated in those parts of Old Delhi which were declared as slum areas on 20th April 1957 by a notification issued under section 3 of the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956 (hereinafter called the Act ). On 30-6-1961, houses Nos. 2812 to 2845 including the houses of the petitioners in Pucca Katra being a part of the slum areas notified on 20th April 1957 were declared to be a clearance area by a notification issued under section 9 (1) of the Act (Annexure C to the writ petition ). On 22-10-1965, a clearance order (Annexure D to the writ petition) was passed under section 10 (1) of the Act calling upon the petitioners and other owners to demolish their houses in the clearance area within six weeks. The clearance order was confirmed by the Administrator of the union territory on 29-11-1965 under section 10 (2) of the Act (Annexure E ). On 24-11-1966, the Competent authority (Assistant Commissioner (Slums) Delhi Municipal Corporation) wrote to the petitioners informing them that if the petitioners fail to vacate the premises in respect of which the clearance order was passed by the Competent authority and confirmed by the Administrator, the Competent authority shall enter the said premises and get them demolished under section 10 (5) and recover the cost of the demolition from the petitioners under section 10 (6) of the Act. The appeals filed by the petitioners against these orders under section 30 of the Act were also dismissed on 7-12-1967 by the Judicial Secretary acting for the Administrator.

( 2 ) THE legality of the above-mentioned orders is impugned by the petitioners on the following grounds :

(1) Under section 9 (1) of the Act, a clearance order has to cover "all the buildings" in the slum area as declared under section 3 of the Act. Therefore, the declaration of only the houses Nos. 2812 to 2845 as clearance area by the order dated 30-6-1961 was ultra vires the Act. (2) According to the rules of natural justice, the petitioners were entitled to a hearing before the orders declaring the petitioners houses as a clearance area or at any rate before the slum clearance orders were passed in respect of these houses. and (3) There was no material in the possession of the Competent authority justifying the declaration of the petitioners houses to be a clearance area under section 9 (1 ). The order was therefore bad.

( 3 ) THESE contentions are considered below seriatim.

1. The relevant part of the scheme of the Act is as follows: The Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956 was enacted for two main purposes, namely, (1) the improvement and clearance of slum areas and (2) for the protection of tenants in such areas from eviction. The latter object is not relevant in the present case. Under section 3 of the Act, the Competent authority satisfied by reports from its officers or other information in its possession is authorised to declare any area as a slum area if the buildings in that area are unfit for human habitation or are detrimental to safety, health or morals. Such slum areas may either be improved or cleared. Improvement is a method directed towards particular buildings in the slum area. It may be made either by repairs or by demolition under Chapter III of the Act. Clearance on the other hand is directed towards a 430 group of buildings under section 9 (1) unless any building which is not unfit for human habitation or dangerous or injurious to health is excluded from clearance under the proviso to section 9 (1 ). The actual operation of clearance of buildings in the clearance area is effected under section 10 of the Act. It will be seen, therefore, that sections 3, 9 and 10 of the Act deal with progressively diminishing areas as follows: (a) section 3 first carves out the slum area from the larger area. The slum area is "any area" the buildings in which are either unfit for human h

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