JUDGMENT :

J.B.PARDIWALA, J.

1. The tussle between the writ applicant and Surat Municipal Corporation leading to the present litigation has rendered 1,304 poor families homeless. These 1,304 families we are talking about hail from a very poor and downtrodden strata of society. These 1,304 families, as on date, are without any proper and adequate shelter. This litigation could have been easily avoided by the Surat Municipal Corporation (for short, “the Corporation”) by taking a practical view of the entire dispute and adopting a pragmatic approach. The obstinate and adamant attitude on the part of the Corporation, not only has put the writ applicant in difficulty having already invested almost Rs.30 Crore by now in the project, but has also rendered the 1,304 families without any shelter. Over a period of time, we have gathered an impression that someone has an eye on the project in question, having noticed that the stage is set and the decks are cleared.

For the convenience of exposition, this judgement is divided into the following parts: