(1.) This writ petition has been filed for the issue of a writ of declaration, declaring Rule 39 of the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as Rules), as unconstitutional, illegal and null and void.
(2.) According to the petitioner he was granted lease with respect to quarry in Survey No. 782/1 in Kulathur village and he has been agitating for the renewal of the said lease. His further case is that he apprehends that the respondent can exercise their prerogative under the impugned Rule to grant lease to somebody else and that he has filed the present writ petition in order to safeguard his interest.
(3.) Entry 54 of List I of the seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India reads as follows: