Illegal house grabbing seems to be rapidly becoming the order of the day in many places in Uttar Pradesh. This court will be failing in its duty if it does not voice its protest against these brazen acts of

law lessness. A mens house is said to be his castle. But when the castle is invaded illegally by a mob of anti-social elements who beat up the inhabitants, throw them out and illegally occupy the same it is a matter of great concern for all law abiding citizens. Several instances of such illegal house grabbing have lately come to the notice of this court, and reports about them have been published widely in the newspapers. The present case is one of the several illustrations in this connection.

2. The petitioner is the owner and landlord of house No. 107 (old No. 1130), P. L. Sharma Road, Begum Bagh, Meerut. The petitioner is an old man of about 72 years of age and is having living with him his wife aged 66 years, sons, daughter-in-law and grand children. The house in question is a double story building. The ground floor consists of five rooms, store and other amenities. The entire ground floor except one room on the south western corner was let out in 1982 to the D