1. Three enactments, within a span of three years, The Esso (Acquisition of Undertakings in India Act, 1974, Act No.4 of 1974, the Burmah Shell (Acquisition of Undertakings in India) Act, 1976, Act No.2 of 1976, and the Caltex (Acquisition of Shares of Caltex Oil Refining (India) Limited and of the Undertakings in India of Caltex (India) Limited) Act, 1977, Act No.17 of 1977, nationalised three foreign companies, Esso Eastern Incorporated, the Burmah Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Company of (India) Ltd. and Caltex Oil Refining (India) Ltd., which carried on in India the business of distributing, marketing or refining and producing petroleum products having places of business in several parts of the country. The right, title and interest of these undertakings stood transferred to and were statutorily vested in the Central Government The acquisitions of these Companies are now complete and they are no longer in challenge and those foreign companies are also not before court.

2. The assets which thus vested in the Central Government include leases and tenancy rights held by these three companies. The petitioners in these writ petitions are persons who had granted lease