COMMON ORDER:

These civil revision petitions arise out of the orders passed by the Principal District Judge, Visakhapatnam in different applications in different appeals. However, since the respondents in all these cases and the issues raised are one and the same, all these revision petitions are being disposed of by way of this common order.

2. The petitioners in all these revision petitions were in possession of small extents of land belonging to the railways. The petitioners were initially paying an annual licence fee of Rs.2,741/- to the 1st respondent and had been carrying on their business by setting up structures etc., in the land in their possession. The respondents, thereafter, initiated proceedings under Section 9 of the Public Premises Act, 2019 (for short 8the Act9) to evict the petitioners from these lands. The petitioners, having lost the proceedings under the Act, had filed appeals, against the said orders of eviction, before the Principal District Judge, Visakhapatnam. During the pendency of the said appeals, the 1st respondent is said to have furnished a statement of dues from the petitioners up to 31.02.2018. The 1st respondent, in the said statements, showed that the licence fee had been increased from Rs.2,741/- per annum to Rs.15,773/- per annum from the year 2013-2014 onwards. Thereafter, the respondents claimed that on 15.11.2019 the said licence fee was increased to 30,879/- per annum from 2019-2020 onwards. On this basis, each of the petitioners were called upon to pay an amount of Rs.1,63,934/- as the amounts due from the petitioners up to March, 2020. The petitioners, claiming financial hardship, on the ground that they were carrying on petty businesses and eking out their livelihood, had filed applications for grant of 36 monthly instalments for depositing the arrears of licence fee dues of Rs.1,63,934/- up to March, 2020 along with future licence fee.

3. The details of the applications filed by the petitioners herein are set out below: