- (1.)Leave granted.
(2.)The short question that arises in this appeal is whether the High Court in exercise of its power under Art.226 of the Constitution of India was justified in interfering with the order of the concerned Panchayat refusing to grant licence for installing a metal crusher machine within the Panchayat in exercise of powers under R.6 and 12 of the Kerala Panchayat (Licensing of Dangerous & Offensive Trade & Factories) Rules, 1996, hereinafter referred as "the Rules".
(3.)It is no doubt true that the entrepreneur had obtained the necessary "No Objection Certificate" from the environmental authorities. But the Panchayat, on consideration of the matter, was of the opinion that the decision not to grant permission to instal the metal crusher machine would be in the interest of the public and it ascribed 4 reasons as to why the Panchayat comes to the conclusion that it would not be in the public interest to grant such licence. All those reasons, to our mind, are germane to the issue and cannot be held to be arbitrary or fictitious.