UMA PALIWAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Uma Paliwal (petitioner), sole Proprietor of Shruti Marble in whose favour a mining lease for 'marble' over 23204 sqm, area near village Rayawala Tehsil Jamwaramgarh district Jaipur duly granted initially for 10 years w.e.f. 9-9-1981 was transferred by order dated 24-2-1988 and registered transfer agreement dated 8-3-1988 by way of this writ petition has sought an appropriate writ or direction for quashing and setting aside :-

(2.) Admitted facts relevant for deciding this petition are stated concisely thus - the petitioner has been operating the mines since the date of transfer of the mining lease in her favour. She applied for renewal of her mining lease on 19-2-1991 but her renewal application was not disposed of on merits within stipulated time, therefore, it was deemed to have been refused in accordance with the Rajasthan Rules against which she preferred revision petition before the State Government under Rule 47 of the Rajasthan Rules, wherein the State Government set aside the deemed refusal on 19-7-94 by directing the competent authority to consider her renewal application on merits.

(3.) However, the petitioner was asked to submit diversion proposals on the pretext of the mining lease area having fallen in the "reserved forest" and hence she presented diversion proposal within time along with requisite material before the competent authority and thereupon the State Government recommended her case for diversion of the forest area and sent it to the Central Government (Ministry of Environment and Forest) for seeking prior approval for renewal purpose in her favour keeping in view the provisions of S.2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (for short, Forest Act, 1980), in the form prescribed under the Forest Rules, 1980.