KUNDAN LAL Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition depicts a shocking state of affair where a person takes the law into his own hands and uses the process of the Court to subvert the rules and the law and carries on illegal mining activity without any permission.

(2.) The facts which cannot be disputed are that Respondent No. 8 herein was granted mining lease for establishing a stone crusher in khewat No. 19 min, khatauni No. 27, khasra No. 194/190 measuring 00-33-89 Hectares in Mohal Chaba and khewat No. 41, khatauni No. 87, khasra No. 454/451 measuring 00-82-85 Hectares in Mohal Panehra. This lease admittedly expired on 5.9.2005.

(3.) Case of the Petitioners is that in fact Respondent No. 8 did not establish the stone crusher in these two khasra numbers but encroached the forest land comprising in khasra Nos. 134/1 and 134/2 where he established the stone crusher and dharas, respectively. We are not going into this issue as to whether the Petitioner had encroached upon the forest land or not since this is factually disputed by Respondent No. 8 and this factual dispute cannot be decided in this petition. Furthermore, the matter regarding the eviction of Respondent No. 8 from this area is pending before the appropriate authority. Therefore, we do not want to make any comments on the same.