In all the above three writ petitions, the legal heirs of the deceased Bale @ Subramaniam (W.P.No.1602 of 1999), Jayaraman (W.P.No.1603 of 1999) and Rajamanickam (W.P.No.1604 of 1999) are the petitioners respectively and they have prayed for the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to pay a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs each as compensation for the loss and suffering caused by the officials of the second respondent by the torture, murder and burning of the said three deceased persons.

2. In all the three cases, the facts are one and the same. The averments in the respective affidavits filed in the above writ petitions are, almost identical. The necessary facts for the disposal of the writ petitions are set out below:

i) The petitioners in the above writ petitions are residents of Thandanur Village, Attur Taluk, Salem District; forest areas surround the village. It is the case of the petitioners that forest officials often insisted Bale @ Subramaniam, Jayaraman and Rajamanickam to help them in their illegal activities. But they refused to oblige and hence the forest officials demanded money and threatened to implicate them in Sandal theft cases. While so, on 29.10