JUDGMENT

UNTWALIA, J. (for himself and on behalf of Beg C. J. Chandrachud and Kailasam JJ.) :— This batch of 374 appeals by certificate is from the decision of the High Court of Karnataka given in 374 Writ Petitions filed by different persons having various kinds of interest in the Contract Carriages which were taken over by the State of Karnataka first by the Karnataka Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Ordinance, 1976 (Karnataka Ordinance Number 7 of 1976) (for brevity, hereinafter, the Ordinance) followed by the Karnataka Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Act, 1976 (Karnataka Act No. 21 of 1976) (hereinafter to be referred to as the Act). The judgment of the High Court is reported in K. Jayaraj Ballal v. State of Karnataka, ILR (1976) Kant 1478. For the sake of convenience hereinafter in this judgment, reference to the High Court judgment wherever necessary will be made from the said report.

FACTS

2. The broad and the common facts of the various cases are in a narrow compass and not in dispute. At the outset, we shall state them mostly from the High Court judgment. We were not concerned to go into the special facts of some cases in these appeals. They may have to be looked into, if