Judgment :

Sanjeev Kumar, J.

1. The petitioner(s) in these petitions are occupants/shop keepers of premises known as ‘Modern Hotel’ situated at old General Bus Stand, Jammu. They are aggrieved of the eviction notice(s) issued by the Jammu Development Authority (“JDA” for short) purportedly under Section 6(2) of the Public Premises (Eviction of Un-authorized Occupants) Act, 1988 [“the Act”] and the decision of the District Magistrate, Jammu [“the Appellate Authority”] passed in appeal/appeals filed by the petitioner(s) to challenge the impugned eviction notice(s) issued by the Estate Officer of JDA. The appeal(s) under Section 12 of the Act has/have been held not maintainable against the eviction notice issued under Section 6(2) of the Act.

2. Since all the writ petitions are directed against the order of the Appellate Authority under the Act and the grounds of challenge taken are identical and common, as such, all these petitions have been clubbed and taken up together for decision.

3. The facts in each case are essentially and materially same. There exists 4 kanals of land at General Bus Stand, Jammu, which was initially held on lease by M/s Ram Chand and others. On the request of t