Judgement

NARASIMHAM, C. J. :- These are applications by six of the ex-Zamindars of Ganjam district under Art. 226 of the Constitution praying for relief against the State of Orissa, from apprehended danger to their property situated in portions of Ganjam Agency tracts known as Maliahs by threat of executive action. The questions of law involved in all these applications are identical, and hence they were heard together and will be dealt with in one judgment.

2. The zamindaris of these applicants were all situated in Ganjam plains (now partly in Orissa and partly in Andhra State) and had been permanently settled with them by the well-known Madras Regulation No. XXV of 1802. These zamindaris have been acquired by the respective Governments under the provisions of the Estate Abolition Act. Adjacent west of Ganjam plains lie hilly tracts (inhabited mainly by aboriginals) known as Agency tracts, portions of which were granted to these zamindars by various Sanads of the Governor-in-Council of Fort St. George Madras, sometime in 1874 and 1875. These tracts were known as Maliahs and the applicants were styled Muthadars of these Maliahs. These tracts were always considered as separate from t