Petitioner challenged sand auction notification under Article 226, citing lack of Gram Panchayat permission. Court held no statutory provision requires such clearance. Writ petition dismissed as infructuous.
Writ petition dismissed; interim relief petition disposed of as infructuous.
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.
THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY
WRIT PETITION NO.5831 OF 2010
Dated 1 5 th March, 2010
Between:
Cheruku Ranga Reddy …Petitioner
And
The Government of A.P. and four others …Respondents
Counsel for the petitioner : Smt B.Neeraja Sudhakar Reddy Counsel for respondents 1 to 3 : AGP for Mines and Geology
The Court made the following
ORDER:
This writ petition is filed for a Mandamus to declare tender notification dated 24.02.2010 issued by respondent No.3 for auctioning sand in River Godavari as illegal and arbitrary.
The petitioner claims to be an agriculturist of Kistapur Village, Jaipur Mandal, Adilabad District. He felt aggrieved by the impugned notification, whereby the respondents are seeking to conduct auction of leasehold rights for mining sand in River Godavari.
At the hearing, Smt B.Neeraja Sudhakar Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that respondent No.5-Gram Panchayat has passed a resolution to the effect that removal of sand in the River Godavari within the Gram Panchayat limits causes depletion of ground water and therefore, no sand auction shall be held. She further submitted that the auctioning authority has not taken permission of respondent No.5-Gram Panchayat before issuing the impugned notification.
Rule 9 of the Andhra Pradesh Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966 lays down exhaustive procedure for holding auctions. It contained a code in itself. Under the Rules, before auction is notified, clearances from the Ground Water Department and River Conservator are required to be obtained. A perusal of the impugned notification shows that such clearances have already been obtained. The learned counsel for the petitioner is unable to place before the Court any statutory provision or Executive instruction, which necessitates
obtaining of clearance from the Gram Panchayat concerned. In my considered opinion, in the absence of infraction of any statutory provision or Executive instruction, the competent authority cannot be restrained form holding sand auction.
In view of the above, I find no reason to entertain this writ petition. The writ petition is, accordingly, dismissed.
As a sequel to dismissal of main petition, WPMP No.7516 of 2010 filed by the petitioner for interim relief is disposed of as infructuous.
C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY, J
Dated 15th March, 2010 vrn
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the auctioning of sand without Gram Panchayat permission is illegal and arbitrary.
Whether clearances from Gram Panchayat are statutorily required under the Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Cheruku Ranga Reddy
The Government of A.P.
four others
C.V.Nagarjuna Reddy
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
