1) By way of filing the petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners have prayed for the following reliefs:

''a. Your Lordships be pleased to admit this petition.

b. Your Lordships be pleased to issue writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, direction or order holding that the show cause notice dated 20/09/2023 issued by the Collector, Bhuj is illegal and without jurisdiction and the same be quashed and set aside.

c. Your Lordships be pleased to stay the further proceedings of the action arising from the show cause notice dated 20/09/2023 issued by the Collector, Bhuj pending admission, hearing and final disposal of the present petition.

d. Your Lordships be pleased to grant any other relief/s as may be deemed fit in the facts and circumstances of the case.''

2) The case of the petitioners can be summarised in a nutshell:

2.1) The petitioners are the legal heirs of the deceased Shri Shashikant Dolatram Dave, who was declared to be an agricultural tenant in respect of the land bearing Revenue Survey No. 183 situated at Village Vadsar, Taluka Abdasa, District Kutch. The said land was originally owned by Bhukhera Sidhik Mumu. It is the case of the petitioners that the said land had been cultivated by the deceased Shashikantbhai for more than 15 years as an agricultural tenant. Thereafter, in the year 2001, upon the demise of the original owner of the property, his widow executed a registered sale deed in favour of Shashikantbhai. Pursuant to the execution of the said sale deed, a mutation entry was made in the revenue record, which was subsequently certified by the competent revenue authority. It is further submitted that the widow of the original owner, Bhukhera Sidhik Mumu, had also executed an afÏdavit dated 28.07.2001, wherein she categorically stated that the land in question had been cultivated by Shashikantbhai as a tenant for several years. At the relevant point of time, proceedings were initiated before the Mamlatdar, and upon due consideration, the Mamlatdar passed an order dated 04.09.2001, declaring Shri Shashikant Dolatram Dave as an agricultural tenant in respect of the said land. The said order was passed after considering the provisions of the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Vidarbha Region and Kutch Area) Act (hereinafter referred to, for the sake of convenience and brevity, as “the Act”). Pursuant to the execution of the registered sale deed, Shashikant Dolatram Dave became the absolute owner and occupant of the land from October 2001 onwards.

2.2) Thereafter, in the year 2007, upon the demise of Shashikantbhai, the names of his legal heirs, i.e., the present petitioners, were entered in the revenue record, and the said mutation entry was also duly certified by the competent revenue authority. During the interregnum period, the family members of the petitioners had also purchased different parcels of agricultural land in the Kutch region. Subsequently, an application under Section 65 of the Gujarat Land Revenue Code, 1879 was preferred for conversion of the said land from agricultural use to non-agricultural use. At that stage, an inquiry was initiated by the District Magistrate (Collector), and the said application came to be disposed of by observing that prima facie certain discrepancies were noticed in the revenue record, and therefore, with a view to verify the records and initiate proceedings under Section 122 of the Tenancy Act, the application was required to be examined further.

2.3) Thereafter, on 28.09.2023, the petitioners received a show cause notice issued from the ofÏce of the Collector, Kutch, essentially under the provisions of Section 110 of the Act, with regard to the mutation entry made in the revenue record in respect of Survey No. 183. By the said notice, the petitioners were called upon to clarify whether the Mamlatdar, Abdasa, by order dated 04.09.2001, had in fact declared Shashikant Dolatram Dave as a cultivator and agr