JUDGMENT :

B. Amit Sthalekar, J.

1. Heard Sri Ajay Kumar Singh assisted by Sri Chandra Sekhar Seth, learned counsel for the petitioners, Sri Manish Goyal, learned Additional Advocate General assisted by Sri Sudhanshu Srivastava, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel and Ms. Akansha Sharma, learned Standing Counsel, Sri Vineet Sankalp and Sri P.K. Upadhyay, learned counsel appearing for the State-Respondents.

2. The above connected writ petitions involve identical questions of law and therefore have taken up together for consideration with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties.

3. The petitioners in the writ petition are seeking a direction to the respondents not to disposes them from the shop in question situated on the ground floor of House No.C-K 36/8 Gyanvapi, Ward Chowk, Varanasi by demolishing the said house except in accordance with the provisions of Section 46 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act, 2013'). The further relief sought by the petitioners is for quashing the order dated 01.04.2019 whereby the contractor Toyaj Singh, M/s. T.S. Enterprises, respondent no.11 has been granted permission to demolish the said premises.

4. Briefly stated the case of the petitioners is that there is a Society known as Carmichael Library Association at C.K. 36/8, Gyanvapi, Chowk, Varanasi, which was established in the year 1872 and registered in the year 1889 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as the Act, 1860). The Society owns a building near Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Vishwanath Gali, Varanasi. It is stated that on the ground floor of the building there are several shops and there is no other accommodation residential or otherwise. On the first floor there is stated to be a commercial accommodation under the tenancy of 'Jalan Synthetics'. On the second floor there is a library of the Society and on the third floor there is a camp of the Central Reserve Police Force (C.R.P.F.). It is stated that there are about 26 shops in the entire building.

5. The case of the petitioners in W.P. No.12759 of 2019 is that originally one Sarju Prasad, grand father of the petitioner no.1 was the tenant of one shop on the ground floor in the building and since then the tenancy remained as such for about 80 years and after his death his son Lakhan Lal Gupta, father of the petitioner no.1 became the tenant and after the death of Lakhan Lal in the year 1993 the tenancy of the shop devolved upon the petitioner no.1 and his mother petitioner no.2, Smt Annpurna Devi and therefore they are the statutory tenants in the building. The petitioners are stated to be carrying on the business of selling Bangles, Bindi, Mala, Phool and Prasad etc. in the shop known as 'Yantraleshwar Bangle Store' and 'Sanvi Pujan Bhandar'. It is stated that the petitioners have been issued rent receipts and have also been paying electricity bills etc. The rent of the shop is stated to be Rs.500/- per month and was last deposited with the Carmichael Library Association, respondent no.10 herein upto March, 2019.

6. The controversy giving rise to the present writ petition is stated to have started when the respondent authorities started evicting persons from their accommodations in Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple area. So far as the petitioners are concerned, it is stated that the land-lord, namely, the Carmichael Library Association transferred the building in question being C.K. 36/8, Gyanvapi, Chowk, Varanasi in favour of the Governor, State of U.P. through Nodal Officer/Chief Executive Officer, Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi through a registered sale deed dated 15.02.2019 for a sale consideration of Rs.21,46,00,000/- (Twenty One Crores Forty Six Lacs). As a result of the house in question being sold to the Government, the Government, it is stated, has started the demolition of the building thereby threatening the possess