Madhu Sreekumaran Vasudevan vs The District Geologist
2023 Latest Caselaw 11693 Ker

           IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                             PRESENT
        THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN
THURSDAY, THE 16TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2023 / 25TH KARTHIKA, 1945
                    WP(C) NO. 13089 OF 2023
PETITIONER:

          MADHU SREEKUMARAN VASUDEVAN
          AGED 46 YEARS
          SON OF VASUDEVAN NAMPOOTHIRI, KEEZHAKKALILLAM,
          RAMAPURAM P.O., RAMAPURAM VILLAGE, MEENACHIL
          TALUK, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT, PIN - 686576
          BY ADVS.
          P.M.ZIRAJ
          IRFAN ZIRAJ
          VISHNU P.S.
          NIMISHA ANTONY
          MOHAMMED SHEHIN.S.S
          BIPIN KRISHNAKUMAR


RESPONDENT:

          THE DISTRICT GEOLOGIST
          DEPARTMENT OF MINING AND GEOLOGY, COLLECTORATE
          OFFICE, KOTTAYAM, PIN - 686002
          SRI. BIMAL K. NATH - GP
     THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
16.11.2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
 W.P.(c) No. 13089 of 2023
                                  2

                            JUDGMENT

The petitioner has been issued Ext. P1 building

permit. For the purpose of construction of the

building, ordinary earth has to be extracted and

removed. Ext. P2 is the movement permit issued for

transporting ordinary earth. While so, the Panchayat

issued Ext. P3 stop memo on the ground that the

vehicles used by the petitioner for transporting

ordinary earth caused damage to the road. The

petitioner challenged Ext. P3 before this Court in W.P.

(c) No. 2330 of 2023 and by Ext. P5 judgment, this

Court disposed of the said writ petition directing the

petitioner to give an undertaking before the

Panchayat that he will rectify the damages if any

caused to the road.

2. In view of Ext. P3 stop memo, the petitioner

had already returned the unused transit passes. W.P.(c) No. 13089 of 2023

Pursuant to Ext. P5 judgment, the petitioner

requested the respondent Geologist to issue fresh

passes for transporting the remaining quantity of

earth. The said application was rejected vide Ext. P6

for want of No Objection Certificate from the Revenue

Divisional Officer.

3. The petitioner submits that, he is willing to file

an undertaking before this Court to the effect that the

petitioner will not extract or transport the granite

building stones found in his property on removal of

the earth, without a No Objection Certificate from the

Revenue Divisional Officer. It is also submitted that

the application for No Objection Certificate is pending

before the Revenue Divisional Officer.

4. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner

and the learned Government Pleader. W.P.(c) No. 13089 of 2023

5. The learned Government Pleader submits that

the stand taken by the respondent is in terms of the

first Proviso to Rule 14 (2) of the Kerala Minor Mineral

Concession Rules, 2015 since the property is situated

in a hilly terrain area.

6. The learned counsel for the petitioner contends

that, if the petitioner was provided with an

opportunity of hearing, he would have appraised the

respondent of the legal and factual situations with

regard to his application dated 02.02.2023.

7. On going through Ext. P6, it can be seen that

the contention of the petitioner as well as the learned

Government Pleader urged before this Court was not

raised before the Geologist or considered in Ext. P6. In

that view of the matter, Ext. P6 requires fresh

consideration.

W.P.(c) No. 13089 of 2023

Accordingly, there will be a direction to the

respondent to pass fresh orders on the application of

the petitioner dated 02.02.2023, after hearing the

petitioner and concerned Panchayat and considering

the objections, if any. This shall be done within a

period of one month from the date of receipt of a

certified copy of this judgment.

The writ petition is disposed of.

Sd/-

MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN bnu JUDGE W.P.(c) No. 13089 of 2023

APPENDIX

PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS

Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE BUILDING PERMIT DATED 17.5.2022 ISSUED BY THE SECRETARY OF RAMAPURAM GRAMA PANCHAYAT Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE MOVEMENT PERMIT DATED 4.1.2023 ISSUED BY THE DISTRICT GEOLOGIST, KOTTAYAM Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 17.1.2023 ISSUED BY THE RESPONDENT Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF THE INTERIM ORDER OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT DATED 31.01.2023 IN WP(C) 2330 OF 2023 Exhibit P5 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT OF THE HONOURABLE COURT DATED 01.03.2023 IN WP(C) 2330 OF 2023 Exhibit P6 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER OF THE RESPONDENT DATED 29/03/2023