1. A common question arises for determination in these writ applications. The petitioners in these petitions it is said, are aggrieved by the grant of permits pursuant to S.5 of the Rice Milling Industry (Regulation) Act, 1958, to respondents 3 and 4 in O. P. No. 2878 and the 3rd respondent in O. P. No. 2342. The petitioners are those who had obtained permits earlier and had obtained licences and were carrying on the business of rice milling. Their case is that due to the proximity of the new mills permitted to be commenced near the place where their rice mills are situate, they are adversely affected.

2. The grounds on which the permits issued to the respondents mentioned above are challenged are that the statute requires a quasi-judicial determination as to whether a permit should be granted to an applicant and since the petitioners are those who are likely to be affected by such grant of permits, they should have been heard. The complaint of the petitioners is that they have not been heard and that they were not aware of any enquiry conducted as contemplated by S.5 (4) of the Act. If any such enquiry had been conducted and any materials had been collected, those mater