RAJEEV Vs. DISTRICT COLLECTOR THRISSUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Director General of Prosecutions.

(2.) EXAMINING the statutory provisions as contained in the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001, for short, the "Act", in the backdrop of decisions rendered by this Court touching different aspects of that Act, we see that the learned Judge, in making the order of reference, was justified in stating that the situation in hand needs further consideration because, in the ultimate analysis, it is also the requirement that section 20 of the Act is effectively implemented.

(3.) THE Act was brought in to protect river banks and river beds from large scale dredging of river sand and to protect their biophysical environment system and to regulate the removal of river sand and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The preamble to the Act, which was referred to in the precedents noted above, pointedly shows that the ultimate object sought to be achieved and the requirement that ought not to fail is to provide regulatory measures as part of environment management.