ORDER :

1. By way of this group of petitions arising out of a similar controversy the petitioners under Article 226 of the Constitution of India have challenged the action of respondent authority in respect of recovering any amount towards the license fees for hoardings in private properties in Surat City for the period commencing from 22.03.2020 i.e the date of lockdown till normalcy is restored or at least for a period of six months from the said date i.e. 22.03.2020 and from demolishing the hoardings of the petitioners and taking any coercive action.

2. Since this group of petitions has raised identical issue it appears that these petitions have been clubbed together for its consideration and as such, a request is made by the learned advocates appearing on behalf of both the sides to dispose of by a common order. As a result of this, for the sake of convenience out of this group Special Civil Application No.7436 of 2021 is treated as a lead matter and facts are taken from the said petition.

3. The background of facts of this lead petition are that the petitioner is a proprietary con