Allowed

M.Prabhakar Rao v. State of Telangana, And 4 Others

Telangana HC19 Dec 2022WP/4261/2021

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Writ petition challenging conditions imposed on sand de-casting from agricultural land. Court directed authorities to issue permission for excavation and sale without interference from mining corporation, aligning with relief granted to similarly situated villagers.

What did the court decide?

Direct respondents to issue permission for de-casting and selling sand from petitioner's land via public market without TSMDC interference, as in similar cases.

M.Prabhakar Rao Vs State of Telangana, And 4 Others — Land Acquisition | Telangana HC (2022)

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HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction)

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MONDAY,THE NINETEENTH DAY OF DECEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY TWO

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K. SARATH

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WRIT PETITION NO:4261 OF 2021

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Between:

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ful.Prabhakar Rao, S/o. Kotaiah, lndian, aged about 65 years, rlo. Eturunagaram (V) and (4,4), Mulugu District, Telangana, presenfly stayinq at Rl/o. 5-4-834. Plot No. 83, Bhulaxminagar. Vaiastalipuram, hyOeran"aO500070.

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...PET|T|ONER

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AND

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State of Telangana, rep. by its Secretary (lndustries and Commerce),

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Secretariat, Hyderabad.

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District Level Sand Committee, Mulugu District, rep. by its Chairperson and

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District Collector, Mulugu.

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The District Collector, Mulugu, Mulugu District, Telangana.

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Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation, rep. by its Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Khairatabad, Hydeiabad.

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Assistant Director, [/ines and Geology, Mulugu District, Telangana. b.

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...RESPONDENTS

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Petition under Article 226 of lhe Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue an order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of MANDAMUS declaring the conditions imposed in the proceedings of 2nd Respondent in proceeding No. 33/SAND/2019-19, dated O7tO1t2O21 , for decasting of sand in petitioners patta land in Sy.No. 23,24 and 25 of Eturunagaram (V and l\1), Mulugu District, as illegal, null void and arbitrary and consequenfly direct the Respondents to permit the petitioner to de-cast the sand and sell in public market in his land without interference of 4th Respondent.

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lA NO: 1 OF 2021

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Pelition under Section 151 CPC praying that ih the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to permit the petitioner to de-cast and sell the sand under the supervision of Sth Respondent, pending disposal of the writ petition.

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Counsel for the Petitioner : SRI K DURGA PRASAD

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Counsel forthe Respondents No. 1 to 4: GP FOR INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE

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Counsel forthe Respondent 5: SRI B. RAMULU, Gp FOR MINES AND GEOLOGY

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The Court made the following: ORDER

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THE T{ON'BLE SRI IUSTICE K.SARATH

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14/RIT PETITION No.4261 of 202'1.

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ORDf]R:

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l'his I/rit petitiorr is lilcd seekirrg the follorving relief: "....ta tssuL,rttt nTtproyrfutA^.:,rtt, ctrdcr or dtreCtiott, Tnrtiu nrly otrc tn tnluru o.f MLutdttntLs, dechn'itg thc cotditirlts imposed in Proceeding tlte procctdings "f 2*1 respondent in No..l3,,SA N1l0'19-1!) dLtttd 07.01.2021 .frtr de cnstittg o.f satd itt pell[11'111y'' pllt ltt]tLl ii .Sy.Nos.2-3, ?1 nnd 25 of Ltrtrnngot(ut1 (VaM), l\lrrltLgu Drstrit, Lts iliegnl, ntLll and poid attd orbilrarq tnrd consr(lu.tltly tlirccl tlu: resTtortdutts to pernit tlr pelitttttrrr lL) .r?-( {isl lln, sutd nnd utll in lutltlir nttrket in lis lttttl trillt,trL rttterft'rattLt ol 1tt, rtsltutd(n1..... . "

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Heard Sri K.Durga Prasad, leamed Counsel appearing for the petitioncr and the learned Governmerrt Pleader for Indush'ies anrl CommercL,, appearing for respondent Nos.1 to 4, and Sri B.Ramulu,, learnecl Govemment Pleader for Mines antl Geology, appearing for Responderlt No.5.

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The iearned Counsel for the petitioner subrnits that the petitioner is having agricultural land to an extent of Ac.6.13 guntas in Surr.ey Nos.23, 24 and 25 of Eturunagarm village

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SK,J W.P No 4261 of 2021

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of Mulugu District and the sanrc is iocated on the bank of

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Jampanna^{Vagu and due to heavy rains huge quantity of} sand was accumulated tr the land of the petitior-rer. The State Government issued G.O.Ms.No.3 (Industries and Commerce) Departmcnt cl.rtec{ 08.01.2015 permitting de-casting of sand from the aglicultural lands with certain guidelines. Basing or.r the said G.O., the petitioner submitted application on 03.02.2016 seekirrg permissiou for de-casting of sand from his patta lancl trncl the concerned authorities havc conducted inclcperrdcrrt anci^joint surve/ and submitted a report to the District Level Sar-rd Committee. Without passing arly orders on the application submitted by the petitioner from 2016 orlr,r,arcls, once again the respondents have conducted joint survey in the year 2020 and submitted report recommending the de-casting of sand from the patta land of the petitioner. Now, the 2"d respondent has passed order in Proc.No.33/SAND/2019-19 dated^07.01.2021 with several conditions contrarv to^{the TSSM Rules,2015.}

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SK,J W P No.4261 of 2021

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-1 Tht, lcarnecl Counsel for the petitioner further submits that the Government of h"rc1ia, Ministrl, of Environment, Forest ancl Climate Change have issued notification in 5.O.7224 (E) under Mineral Laws (Amendment) Act, 2020 exernptine certain cases from requirement of Ertvironmental clearance; viz., removal of sand deposits on agricultural fields aftcr I'lood by farmers, and in vien, of the same no clearance is required for removal of sand from the agricultural larrds.

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) The learned Counsel for the petitioner in support of his contention has relied on the followirrg judgments of l{on,ble Supreme Court of India:

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State of Cujarath and others etc., Vs. la yeshbhni Kanjibhai Kalathitla etc.,^t ,

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Tfuecsiamma facob orril others Vs. Geologist Dept.of Mining and Gegology afld othels² ,

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1 Civil Appeat Nos.10373-10374 of 2010

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2 Civil.Appeal Nos.4540-4548 of 2000

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SK,J W.P.No.4?61^{of 2021}

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The learned^{Counselfor the petitioner also relied upon} the judgment^{of this court in W'P'No25715 of 2018 dated} 31.10.2018^{wherein the action of the authorities in imposing} charges^{on vehicles and introduction of clause (5) to the} effect that^{no machinery shall be permitted to de-cast the} sand from^{the patta lancl was challenged' it was observed} that:

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"since tlre patta^{land of tlrc petitioners tlrcrein' tuouldbe fit} for^{cultiaation afterde-cttsting;hauing regardto the fact that} the land^{of tlrc petitioners is etorierl tlue to natural calamiht} i.e. Floods^{and taking into considerntion tlrc locationof tlu} land, this^{Court is of tlrc uie'to that the petitionerscanbe} permitterl^{to use trachittcry for tle-castingof the sand to the} extent^{orderedbq tfu nullxn'ities'}

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The^{learned GovernmentPleader for Mines and} Geology,^{appearing for respondent No'5 submits that' the} u ,rta, Mulugu considered the matter in detail and^granted permission^{for de-castingof sand in respect of the 23} applications^{whose lands are locatedin the midst of the}

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SK,J W P No 4261 of 2A21

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River as pcr Rule 7 (8) of the Telangana State Sancl Mining RLrles, 2015 GSSMR Rules). It is further conterlcled that as pcr Rulc 7 (8) of the TSSMR Rules, in case patta lancls located in the nrirlst of River bed/course, the Chainlan, District l-evel Sanrl Committee to TSMDC Ltd. As pelRulc.2(i) read n,ith rule + (iv) (c) which prescribes statutorv clearances of Environmt,ntal learnecl (E.C), CFE and CFO before excar.atiou of sand, as such the areas are to be. treated as specified sand bearing areas and all statutory clearances have to bi- obtained fore excavation as per Ruie. (2)(i) read r.t,itl.r Rulc (ir,) (c) of TSSM Rule and Government Memo No.212llNLI (1)/2018-5, hrdush-ies ancl Conrmcrce (NI.i) Departmerrt dated 25.07 .2018.

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The learned Government Pleader further submits that as per existing sand policy all sand sales shall be throlrgh lvl/s TSMDC only. The Government vide G.O.Ms.No.54, Lrc.lustries and Commerce Department dated.21.08,.2015 issueclgn amendment in the Rule Z $) (c) of the Telangana

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SK, J W.P.No.4261 of 2021

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state sand Minding Rure, 2015 as per which the de_casting sand in any patta land abutting river bed, to make the land suitable for cultivation shajl be by TSMDC Lrcrl., for de_ casting of sand. TSMDC will enter into agreement with the pttadar and comply with such other conditions as deemed fit as per the procedure involved to conduct de_casting of sand from pafta la,d. As per G.o.Ms.No.g 4 dt.09.71.2017 the pattadar may get share amount from the sale of sanc.l with a maximum ceiling of Rs.100/_ per Cubic Meter eanred bv TSMDC due to sale of sancl de_casting and the pattadar has to obtain the stalutory clearances ancl requestecl the court to dismiss the petition.

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The learned Government pleader further submits that similarly situated persons of the same village requested to permit them to use machinery for excavation of sand and the saire was considered and fresh orders were issued on 29.06.2021in favour of others of the same village.

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S(J W P.Na 4261 of 2021

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I t

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Aftcr hearing both sides and in view of the judgments rt'lit'cl ul-rLrtr bi, ther Petitioner, this court is of considered view that similirrlv situated persons of same village u,hen approaci.rerl the High Court challenging the action of the rt'sl',onderlts in inrposing charges on the vehicles, the High Cotrrt pcru.ritted the petitioners therein to excavate and ti anspor-t sancl from their patta lands without environrnental clt,arance ar-rtl the same has to be implemented in the instant castr a lso

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I l. lrr r ior,r, of tl're same, the writ petitiorr is disposccl of u ith.r tlirr'ction to the respor-rdents to issue permissiorr to de111 castt: the sand from the patta land of the petitioner Sr,.Nos.23. 24 and 25 of Eturnagaram Village of Mullugu

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District ds \/ds done in case of others in proceedings dated 26.09.202'1 , within four (4) weeks from the date of receipt of c-op-r1' 6f orcler this court. /

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skJ W P No 4261 af 2021

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Miscellaneous petitions, pendir.rg if any, shall stand

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closed. There shall be no order as to costs.

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SD/. T. SRINIVAS DEPUTY REGISTRAR

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//TRUE COPY' SECTION OFFICER

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To, 1. The Secretary^(lndustries and Commerce),^{Secretariat, State of Telangana,} Hyderabad.

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2- T6e Chairperson and District^Collector ,^{DistrictLevel Sand Committee,} Mulugu District, Mulugu.

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1. The District Collector, Mulugu,^{Mulugu District, Telangana.} 4. The Vice Chairman and Managing^{Director, Khairatabad,TelanganaState} Mineral Development Corporation,^Hyderabad.

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1. Assistant Director,^{Mines and Geology, [Vlulugu District, Telangana.} 6. One CC to SRI K DURGA^{PRASADAdvocate} IOPUC] 7. Two CCs to GP FOR MINES^{AND GEOLOGY} ,High^{Court for the Stateof} Telangana at Hyderabad [OUT]

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