Identical contentions are urged, by the petitioners, who had been carrying on brick kilns; the bricks manufactured wherein were seized by the District Collector, as per the mahazars produced in the respective writ petitions. The facts in the various writ petitions are slightly different which shall be noticed separately.

2. The petitioner in W.P.(C) No.20960 of 2016 has obtained a D&O license for brick manufacturing for the period 2015-16 from the Grama Panchayath produced as Ext.P1; which has not been renewed for the current year. The title deed of the property is seen at Ext.P2. The description of the property as per the schedule is also shown as 'nilam' (paddy land). The District Collector along with a team of officers conducted inspection of the property and found 1,80,000 bricks, manufactured and kept in the property, as is evidenced from Ext.P3 seizure mahazar. The petitioner was not able to offer any explanation as to the source of the raw-material (ordinary clay) used for manufacturing the bricks. In W.P. (C) 20960, 20818, 20980 & 22118 of 2016, the petitioners are owners of the properties (paddy fields) in which the brick kilns were operated. In W.P. (C) 20977, 21