AMIT GUPTA Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a writ of certiorari for quashing the order of the Director, Geology and Mining dated 08-12-2017 and also the order of the State Government dated 08-03-2019. Writ of prohibition has also been sought to restrain the respondent nos. 3 to 9 from carrying out the mining in respect of the area granted to them. It is also prayed that the case be remanded to the State Government with a direction to consider the area of the petitioner for grant of prospecting license.

(2.) By the impugned order, the application of the petitioner for grant of prospecting license of mineral granite was rejected and quarry lease was granted to respondent nos. 3 to 9 for extraction of mineral stone for manufacturing Gitti by mechanical crushing. By order dated 08-03-2021, the State Government has rejected the appeal filed by the petitioner against the order of Director, Geology and Mining. In the instant case, the Director, Geology and Mining as well as the State Government have arrived at the conclusion that the area in question does not contain reserve of granite suitable for commercial mining inasmuch as it has been reported that there are lots of joints and fractures in the granite rock and therefore, the same cannot be used for cutting and polishing of granite tiles. The said decision is based on two inspections carried out by the officers of the Mining Department.

(3.) The petitioner filed an application for grant of prospecting license over Khasra No.410, area 9.829 hectares situated at Churiyari, Tahsil Gaurihar, District Chhatarpur for granite under Chapter III-A of the M.P. Minor Mineral Rules, 1966. The said Chapter-III-A(a) deals with the application for prospecting license for minerals specified in Serial No.1 to 7 of Schedule 1. As per Chapter III-A, Item No.6- stone for making Gitti by mechanical crusher, the period of grant of prospecting license for granite shall be as prescribed under Granite Conservation and Development Rules, 1999. The respondent nos. 3 to 9 also applied for different areas out of the aforesaid Khasra No.410, area 19.829 hectare for the grant of quarry lease for stone and not granite stone for the purpose of manufacturing of Gitti through crushers. The application which was moved for prospecting license for granite as per Schedule-1 was that of the petitioner only. As per report of the Director of Geology and Mining, the aforesaid khasra number is reported to having rock which is not suitable for making block. It is further stated that the granite rock is found in the surface but it has lots of joints and fractures and there is no other mineral found in the area. Copy of the said report was filed as Annexure P-2. The aforesaid area, on the basis of spot inspection and physical verification by Assistant Director, Geology & Mining was reported that it contains medium grained granite, highly fractured and jointed of decomposition of rock in small and the said granite can be used as Gitti for construction. Copy of the said report is filed as Annexure P-3. It is further stated that on the basis of the aforesaid report, the Collector by order dated 08-12-2017 granted the areas to the respondent nos.3 to 9 for the purpose of stone for Gitti crushed in crusher to be used for construction, whereas the application of the petitioner was rejected. The petitioner filed an appeal against the aforesaid order before the State Government alongwith report carried out by Shri R.S.Bhatnagar, Construction Geologist, who reported that the area has hilly deposit and having "U" shaped of hill and found exposure of granite are sheet deposit, about all elevation of 25 to 30 meters height. Granite having good in colour of Light to dark reddish in fine grained and that the granite is sheet deposit and very little of joint/fracture. It was further stated that the composition of granite mainly of quartz ( about 25% max), feldspar ( about 45%), little amount of mafics (less than 3%) and that is very much suitable for making of Granite block. The petitioner submitted that the State Government by an order dated 08-03-2019 held that the report of the Director of Geology and Mining is wholly incorrect and the area has granite in block and the same is suitable for making Blocks. The respondent no.4 has transferred the area of 2.500 hectares granted to him for stone to be crushed into Gitti vide order darted 19-06-2018. By order of Collector dated 21-08-2018, similarly Smt. Pooja Tomar, the respondent no.7 has transferred the area of 2.20 hectares granted to her vide order dated 21-04-2018 by order of the Collector dated 02-05-2018 in favour of P.N.C. Infotech Ltd. Agra. The respondent no.10 has also filed an application disclosing that the area of grant made in favour of the respondent no.8 was requested to be cancelled and the same was cancelled vide order dated 24-07-2018 and the same has been granted to the respondent no.10 by order dated 24-06-2019. It is submitted that the grant made in favour of the respondent no.10 by orders dated 24-07- 2018 and 24-06-2019 are wholly illegal.