SREEKUTTAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner in W.P.(C) 30404/16 is the appellant before us. In the writ petition, the petitioner was aggrieved by the inaction on the part of the third respondent/Geologist, to act on an application for permission to remove earth that was excavated by the petitioner for restoration of a pond. In the judgment of the learned Single Judge, that is impugned before us, a direction was given to the Geologist to inspect the premises of the petitioner, and thereafter issue O(A) passes, with specific vehicle number shown thereon, to enable transportation of the earth excavated from the pond. It was also made clear in the judgment that, the transportation of ordinary earth would be done only after informing the fifth respondent, in whose property the excavated earth was proposed to be unloaded by the petitioner. In the writ appeal, it is the case of the appellant that, consequent to the directions in the judgment, when he approached the Geologist for the necessary permission, taking note of the directions in the judgment, the Geologist issued Annexure A2 order granting permission to the petitioner for removing the earth excavated from his property. One of the conditions in Annexure A2 order, based on the directions issued in the judgment referred above, was that the transit passes would be issued only after recording the registration number of vehicles, in advance, although the other entries in the pass (date, time etc.) needed to be filled up only at the time of removal of the earth. Through a separate clause (clause 9) in Annexure A2 , it was also made clear that the earth would be removed only by engaging those vehicles, the registration numbers of which were specified in Annexure A2, based on the information provided by the petitioner. Thereafter, when the petitioner sought for the transit passes, under cover of which the actual transportation of earth could be done, the Geologist insisted that the vehicle number be entered against Sl.No.12 in the form for vehicle transit pass, in compliance with the directions in the judgment referred above. The grievance of the petitioner (appellant in the writ appeal) is with regard to this insistence by the Geologist that there must be a mention of the vehicle number in the transit passes, in advance, and at the time of authentication of the same by the Geologist, for the purposes of removing the excavated earth from his premises. It is contended, based on rules 25 and 26 of the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2015, that the statutory Rules do not mandate that the details of the vehicles should be entered at the time of obtaining the transit passes from the Geologist, so long as the vehicle registration number is mentioned in the order of the Geologist granting permission for transportation of the excavated earth.

(2.) We heard Sri.V.Rajendran Perumbavoor, the learned counsel for the appellant, the learned Government Pleader for the official respondents of the State and Sri.Santhosh P. Poduval, the learned Standing Counsel for the fourth respondent Panchayat.

(3.) On a consideration of the facts and circumstances, we find that the appellant is not aggrieved by the mentioning of the vehicle registration numbers in the order of the Geologist which permitted him to transport the excavated earth from his premises. His contention in the writ appeal is essentially that, while he can enter the details of the vehicle, at the appropriate place in the O(A) form, as and when the vehicle is identified for the purposes of transportation, he will not be in a position to identify the particular vehicle, among those already mentioned in the order of the Geologist granting the permission, that would be used for the purposes of any particular transit pass. It is his contention that, in as much as the identity of the vehicles that can be used for transportation has already been ensured by mentioning the vehicle registration numbers in the order passed by the Geologist granting permission, the applicant for transit pass should be given the liberty to choose one among those vehicles for mention in the individual transit passes that are issued to the transporter, to cover the individual consignments that are transported out of his premises.