The main legal point established in the judgment is the unfair and unreasonable denial of Category 'a' plots to the petitioners under the Gadgil Assurance Scheme, and the court's direction to re-categorize the petitioners as entitled to Category 'a' plots.

S. MURALIDHAR, J.

( 1 ) THESE two writ petitions raise common questions and are, therefore, being disposed of by this common judgment. In both the petitions the petitioners challenge the decision of the respondent Delhi Development Authority (DDA) cancelling the allotments made in their favour of Category "a" plots under the gadgil Assurance Scheme and allotting them category "b" plots in lieu thereof. The petitioners seek a direction to the DDA to restore the allotment of the category "a" plot.

( 2 ) THE background to the present petitions is that the Government of India constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Shri N. V. Gadgil for determining the criteria for allotment of alternative plots to the refugees who fled from Pakistan during the Partition of 1947 and settled in Delhi on government land. The Gadgil committee categorised the refugees who had occupied the government land into three categories as under:

". Those who have their residential occupation prior to 15th August, 1950 (which included land under commercial occupation) and had not acquired any plot/house in Delhi will be placed in category 'a'.

. Those persons who have occupied the premises after 15th August, 1950 but before September, 1960 were eligible for allotment of LIG/mig flats and were categorised to be placed in category 'b'.

. Those squatting on the land after 1960 to 1980 were placed in category 'c' and 'd' and were eligible under allotment Jhugi Jhopri Scheme. "

( 3 ) THEREAFTER a five-member committee, comprising officers of the DDA and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, was constituted to examine the eligibility and claims of individuals for allotment of alternate plots. It appears that this committee examined the claims mainly on the basis of two documents: (1) Refugee Registration Certificate (essential) (2) Receipts regarding payment of damages assessed by the Authority on the basis of the rates levied for the first time in 1952. Apart from the above two documents, the following documents were also examined by the five-member committee: a. Ration Card of 1950. b. Electric/water/telephone bills, date back to 1950. c. Census slips of 1960. d. Voter's list of June, 1951 and e. any other letter addressed to the squatter at his place of occupation prior to 15th August, 1950.

( 4 ) LISTS of persons of eligible for each category of plots were prepared on the basis of the names cleared by the five-member committee some time in 1970. Subsequently, on complaints being received that allotments had in some cases been procured by producing false or forged documents, a three-member committee was constituted by the respondent DDA to examine some of the claims. This committee repeated the exercise of requiring the claimants to produce documents which were again examined. In June 1990 the three-member Committee gave its recommendations on the basis of which the category of plots allotted in some cases were changed from "a" to "b", meaning thereby a smaller plot was allotted. This led to petitions being filed in this Court by the affected persons. Pursuant to directions issued by this Court, those cases were again examined by justice K. Ramamurthy, a retired Judge of this Court and he recommended that the category A plots be restored.

( 5 ) THE present two petitions have also been filed in similar circumstances. As far as the first petition by Shri Ashok Kumar is concerned, it is claimed that the petitioner's father submitted the necessary documents in the form of a ration card and the refugee registration certificate to the five-member committee. After examining those documents, the five-member committee found the petitioner"s father eligible for allotment of a Category A plot. On 27. 5. 1978 the DDA allotted land measuring 85. 6 sq. yards in Block 8a, WEA, Karol Bagh, against plot No. T-5365 on a perpetual leasehold basis subject to certain terms and conditions. Pursuant to a demand made in this regard on 11. 8. 1980 the petitioner's father deposite

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