BHATT, J. :- All these petitions by different citizens but against the common respondents, namely, the State of Gujarat and the concerned officers of the State essentially raise a common question of law regarding the vires of S.69A (1) of the Land Revenue Code which had come to be introduced into the said Code by the Bombay Land Revenue Code which had come to be introduced into the said Code by the Bombay Land Revenue Code and Land Tenure Abolition Laws (Gujarat Amendment) Act, 1982, which was the successor of the Bombay Land Revenue Code and Land Tenure Abolition (Gujarat Amendment) Ordinance, 1981. In all these petitions the substantive prayer and, if we say so, the main prayer is striking down of these provisions and the other reliefs that are sought in these petitions are flowing from the said main prayer. The other prayers are pertaining to the requisitions by the Revenue Officers calling upon these petitioners to hand-over the mines and minerals in question or stop conducting mining operations therein, etc.

2. In order to understand the controversies, a few facts are required to be stated which take us into the history of erstwhile State of Saurashtra which had come t