R.S.Narula, J.

1. I propose to dispose of by this judgment 97 writ petitions which were heard together along with Letters Patent Appeal No. 762 of 1970. These writ petitions have to be divided into four groups in order to facilitate reference to the separate set of arguments advanced in respect of each group. The prayer in all these petitions is to quash the orders of the Collector, Kaithal, district Karnal, determining the leases of the respective parcels of land of which possession had been taken by the Collector under Section 3 of the East Punjab Utilization of Lands Act (38 of 1949) (hereinafter called the Act), and which land had therefore been leased out to different persons for a period of twenty years. The first group is comprised of 57 petitions (Civil Writs Nos. 1376, 1377, 1383 to 1386, 1395, 1416, 1432, 1433, 1459, 1471, 1482, 1491, 1521, 1549, 1550, 1559, 1573, 1604, 1607, 1651 to 1654, 1669, 1670, 1672, 1694, 1713, 1752, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1791, 1817, 1836, 1944, 2000, 2001, 2438, 2720, 2749, 2820 to 2822, 3168, 3704, 3705, 3786, 3887, 3899, 3942, 3943, 3990 to 3992 of 1970) in which it is admitted that leases had been granted to the respective writ-petitioners