This writ petition challenged the issuance of a letter of intent for an M-sand quarrying lease. The Court held that the petitioner failed to demonstrate a case for interference as the administrative process was ongoing and had not attained finality. Consequently, the petition was dismissed.
Petition dismissed; no order as to costs.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 1ST DAY OF OCTOBER, 2021
PRESENT
THE HON'BLE MR.SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE
AND
THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM
WRIT PETITION NO.13848 OF 2020 (GM-MM-S-PIL)
BETWEEN:
SRI SIDDALINGE GOWDA S/O LATE SRI BYREGOWDA AGED ABOUT 45 YEARS PRESIDENT, WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS SEVA KENDRA(R) NO.1109, NEW NO.20, SRINAGAR MAIN ROAD HDFC ATM UPSTAIRS BENGALURU-560 050
....PETITIONER
(BY SRI. C.R.GOPALSWAMY., ADVOCATE)
AND:
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THIS PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO CALL FOR RECORDS FROM THE RESPONDENTS AND QUASH LETTER OF INTENT AT ANNX-H DATED:05.11.2018 AND DIRECT THE R-2 AND 3 TO REJECT THE CLAIM OF THE R-7 AS FAR AS SEEKING QUARRYING LICENSE IN RESPECT OF LAND IN SY.NO.76 MEASURING 6 ACRES, ANOTHER BLOCK IN THE SAME SURVEY NO. MEASURING 7 ACRES 20 GUNTAS AND SY.NO.9 OF THIMMAPPANAHALLI TO THE EXTENT OF 7 ACRES AND SY.NO.180 OF ARAKERE VILLAGE, MEASURING 9
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ACRES UNDER RULE 31-ZC OF THE KARNATAKA MINOR MINERAL CONCESSION RULES, 1994 AND ETC.
THIS PETITION COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING THIS DAY, ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE, MADE THE FOLLOWING:
ORDER
The petitioner before this Court has filed this present petition being aggrieved by the letter of intent dated 05.11.2018 issued in favour of respondent No.7 in respect of quarrying lease relating to M-sand. The petitioner has stated before this Court that the prescribed procedure has not been followed and the main ground raised by the petitioner is that the petitioner has reliably learnt that the respondent Nos.2 and 3 are going to grant lease to respondent No.7 even though the manufacturing unit is not operational.
petition:
"i) Call for records from the respondents and quash Letter of Intent at Annexure-H vide No. Uˬsˮ E/
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HSN/ PÀUÀÄUÀÄ/ JA-¸ÁåAqï/ Cfð. ¸ÀA. - 144/2016-17/201819/5948-951 dated: 05.11.2018.
ii) Issue Writ of Mandamus or such other appropriate writ or order directing the respondent Nos.2 and 3 to reject the claim of the seventh respondent as far as seeking quarrying license in respect of land in Sy.No.76 measuring 6 Acres, another block in the same survey No. measuring 7 Acres 20 Guntas and Sy.No.9 of Thimmappanahalli to the extent of 7 Acres and Sy.No.180 of Arakere Village, measuring 9 Acres under Rule 31-ZC of the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994.
iii) Pass such other Writ/s or order/s which are deemed to be fit in the nature and circumstance of the above case, in the interest of justice and equity."
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lease has not been executed so far and only a letter of intent has been issued and the petition has been filed only with an object to delay the process which is going on in the matter.
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the grant of quarrying lease for M-sand units commissioned or operational as on the date of commencement of the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2016. The Rule also provides for submission of application within six months for grant of quarry lease for M-sand and the same was done by the respondent No.7. The respondent No.7 has also filed Consent for Operation issued by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board dated 08.08.2016 and after processing the matter, the letter of intent was issued in the matter. The Forest Department has also issued 'No Objection Certificate' dated 30.04.2019, meaning thereby, compliance of statutory provisions have been brought on record.
The petition is accordingly dismissed.
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No order as to costs.
The pending interlocutory applications, if any, stand
disposed of.
Sd/ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE
Sd/JUDGE
CA
3 issues framed by the court
Whether the Court should interfere with the process of granting a letter of intent for a quarrying lease in a public interest litigation jurisdiction when the process has not attained finality.
Whether the petitioner has been able to make out a case to quash the letter of intent issued to respondent No.7 for quarrying M-sand.
Whether the prescribed procedure under the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994 was followed in the issuance of the letter of intent.
2 provisions across 2 enactments
SRI SIDDALINGE GOWDA
STATE OF KARNATAKA
THE DIRECTOR DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND GEOLOGY
THE DISTRICT STONE CRUSHER LICENSING AND REGULATION AUTHORITY
MR. M NASURALLA
SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA
SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
