S.S.SANDHAWALIA, J.

1. Whether the mere absence of one or both the assessors at the time of rendering the award by the President of the Tribunal under Section 65 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 , would vitiate the same is the significant question which forms the common link in these six connected civil writ petitions admitted to a hearing by the Division Bench.

2. Since the question aforesaid is pristinely legal, and we do not propose herein to delve into the merits of each case it suffices to make a reference albeit briefly to the facts in C. W. 1403/ 1980. The petitioner was the owner of some land situated in Ambala City which was acquired by the respondent-Improvement Trust for the development Scheme No. 12. Consequent thereto the Collector rendered his award in which he assessed compensation at the rate of Rs. 10 per square yard. The petitioner and others whose land had been similarly acquired made applications under Sec.59 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act (herein called the Act) read with Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act for referring the matter to the Tribunal constituted under the Act for enhancement of the compensation awarded. These applications we