S.R. SHIPPING CO. Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Petitioners are questioning the correctness of the decision of Respondent No.1 dated 05th March, 2010 and the consequential order passed by Respondent No.2 dated 09th March, 2010 of granting permit for excavation of sand in favour of Respondent No.3 from Dabhol Creek / Vashishtha River more particularly four blocks bearing Block Nos. B4, B5, F1 and F2 respectively.

(2.) The Petitioners state that they had participated in the tender process in relation to other blocks and were successful bidders. That having fulfilled the required conditions laid down in the tender documents, the contract of the other blocks has been awarded to them. Insofar as the aforesaid four blocks are concerned, it is stated that the same have been granted to the Respondent No.3 on permit basis at the price, which is far below the upset price. According to the Petitioners, permission for extraction of sand could be and ought to be granted to a person, who is the successful bidder and offers higher or best price than the upset price in a public auction. That is the requirement under Rule 39A of the Bombay Minor Mineral Extraction Rules, 1955 (hereinafter referred to "the Rules of 1955"). Besides the tenderer is obliged to obtain prior permissions pertaining to pollution control and environmental clearance from the concerned departments.

(3.) The Petitioners have asserted that the decision of the Respondent No.1 to award "permit" for extraction of sand for the above mentioned four blocks and not follow the regime of public auction would cause severe loss to Public Exchequer. This aspect has been noticed even in the report of Mr. J.P. Dange, then Additional Chief Secretary ( Revenue ) dated 16th May, 2009, which was prepared for assessing the situation arising on account of grant of extraction of sand licence on "permit basis" instead of "public auction". In this report, it is noted that for the year 2008 - 2009, in the Raigad and Ratnagiri districts alone, on account of delay in conducting public auction for grant of licence for extraction of sand at Savitri River / Bankote Creek, the authorities chose to issue permits in this region. The loss to Public Exchequer was substantial. In that, the licence royalty amount to be recovered by public auction in respect of the said area would have been Rs. 33.19 crores, instead the permits were issued for the royalty charges of only Rs.3.65 crores. This report was prepared for considering the issues raised in writ petition filed before this Court. The Petitioners have also placed reliance on orders passed by this Court in public interest litigation to assert that the permission to extract sand ought to be granted only by way of conducting public auction and not on permit system basis, which causes severe loss to the Public Exchequer.