AJITHA JOSHY Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner holds a registered land in Thrissur District. The land on the eastern side of the said land is a Government Puramboke. The petitioner intends to obtain a quarrying permit for extracting granite stones under the Kerala Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 2015 (the Rules) from her land as also from the adjoining Government Puramboke. No-objection Certificate from the District Collector is one of the documents to be produced for obtaining quarrying permit under the Rules. The petitioner, therefore, applied to the District Collector for Noobjection Certificate. Ext.P2 is the application preferred by the petitioner in this connection. On a reference from the District Collector, the Tahsildar and the Village Officer concerned have forwarded their remarks to the District Collector. In the meanwhile, the Government decided to prescribe guidelines in the matter of considering the requests for grant of No-objection Certificate by the District Collectors for the purpose of obtaining quarrying permits, and directed the District Collectors to refrain from granting No- objection Certificates for the said purpose until the guidelines are prescribed. In the light of the said direction of the Government, the petitioner has been given Ext.P7 communication by the District Collector informing her that her application for grant of Noobjection Certificate would be considered only in accordance with the guidelines of the Government, once it is framed.

(2.) The case of the petitioner is that she being an Indian National, she has a right to obtain quarrying permit in respect of Government lands as well, in terms of Rule 3 of the Rules and therefore, the application preferred by the petitioner for grant of No-objection Certificate cannot be kept pending indefinitely by the District Collector. It is also the case of the petitioner that the application of the petitioner being one preferred long prior to the decision of the Government to prescribe guidelines, the same is liable to be considered by the District Collector following the existing procedure. It is the further case of the petitioner that Noobjection Certificates are presently issued based on recommendations of the Tahsildars and Village Officers concerned and the application of the petitioner is also liable to be considered by the District Collector based on the recommendation of the Tahsildar and Village Officer. The petitioner, therefore, seeks direction to the District Collector to consider the application submitted by her, based on the recommendations of the Tahsildar and the Village Officer concerned.

(3.) Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as also the learned Government Pleader.