Telangana High Court
The State Of Telangana, vs Mutti Reddy Ganesh Reddy, on 23 February, 2023
Bench: Ujjal Bhuyan, N.Tukaramji
THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN
AND
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE N.TUKARAMJI
W.A.No.226 of 2023
JUDGMENT: (Per the Hon'ble the Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan)
Heard Mr. Malugari Sudharshan, learned Government
Pleader for Forests representing the appellants and
Mr. J.Prabhakar, learned Senior Counsel for the
respondent/writ petitioner.
2. This appeal is directed against the order
dated 15.12.2022 allowing W.P.No.34605 of 2022 filed by the
respondent as the writ petitioner.
3. Respondent had earlier filed W.P.No.28646 of 2022
taking exception to the decision of respondent No.3- District
Forest Officer, Hanamkonda and Jangaon (briefly 'District
Forest Officer' hereinafter) dated 01.06.2022 rejecting the
application of the respondent for issuance of licence for
establishment of timber depot in the name of M/s. Vinayaka
Timber Depot at premises bearing municipal
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No.23-6-155/20/C, Hunter Road, Warangal (briefly 'subject
premises' hereinafter).
4. On 15.07.2022, learned Single Judge issued a direction
to the appellants to reconsider the application of the
respondent for establishment of timber depot in the subject
premises without reference to the rejection order
dated 01.06.2022. It was thereafter that District Forest Officer
passed a fresh order dated 16.08.2022 rejecting the application
of the respondent. This led to filing of the related writ
petition being W.P.No.34605 of 2022 by the respondent.
5. The two writ petitions were contested by the appellants
by filing counter-affidavit.
6. Learned Single Judge noticed that there were
discrepancies in the number of timber depots mentioned in
the report of respondent No.4- Forest Range Officer,
Hanamkonda (briefly 'Forest Range Officer' hereinafter) and
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in the impugned order of the District Forest Officer
dated 16.08.2022.
7. Be it stated that appellants had taken the stand that
application of the respondent for grant of licence to establish
timber depot in the subject premises could not be accepted
because of existence of large number of timber depots in that
area. Learned Single Judge noted that Forest Range Officer in
his report dated 25.05.2022 had mentioned that there were
about 54 number of timber depots in operation in
Hanamkonda range within a distance of one kilometer, with
further nine timber depots in a distance of one to two
kilometers therearound; therefore, establishment of another
timber depot was not necessary. It was noticed by the learned
Single Judge that in the impugned order dated 16.08.2022, the
District Forest Officer mentioned presence of 97 saw mills
and 62 timber depots as against 54 timber depots mentioned
in the report dated 25.05.2022. This was construed by the
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learned Single Judge to be a case of non-application of mind
by the District Forest Officer.
8. We may mention that as per the report of the Forest
Range Officer, there were not only 54 timber depots within a
distance of one kilometer, but additionally nine timber depots
within a further distance of one to two kilometers. Thus,
according to the Forest Range Officer, there were about 63
timber depots. In fact, the difference between the number
of timber depots mentioned in the report of the Forest Range
Officer dated 25.05.2022 and those mentioned in the
impugned order of the District Forest Officer
dated 16.08.2022 is only one; therefore, it cannot be construed
that there was non-application of mind by the District Forest
Officer.
9. Be that as it may, we have carefully perused the
Telangana Forest Produce (Storage and Depot) Rules, 1989
(briefly 'the Rules' hereinafter) framed in exercise of powers
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conferred by Section 29 read with Section 68 of the Andhra
Pradesh Forest Act, 1967. The said Rules have been framed
to regulate setting up of forest produce (storage and depots) in
the State. While Rule 3 of the Rules deals with application for
licence; Rule 4 lays down the procedure for grant of licence.
Rule 4 of the Rules reads as under:
Procedure for grant of licence:
1) On receipt of an application in Form 1,
Divisional Forest Officer shall make such
enquiry as he deems fit, and after satisfying
himself as to the genuineness of the need etc.,
may grant a licence in Form-2 for a period not
exceeding [three years at a time]
(2) Every application shall be accompanied by a
fee of Rs. [250/-] for grant of a licence or its
renewal.
In case of refusal to issue or renew the licence
the fee so paid shall be refunded.
10. Sub-rule (1) of Rule 4 of the Rules says that on receipt
of an application for licence, Divisional Forest Officer shall
make necessary enquiry and after satisfying himself as to the
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genuineness of the need etc., he may grant licence for a period
not exceeding three years at a time. We do not find any cap
on the number of timber depots that may be set up in one
particular Forest Range or in an area over which the Divisional
Forest Officer has jurisdiction. The requirement of the Rules
is that the Divisional Forest Officer must satisfy himself as to
the genuineness of the need etc. Merely because there are
already 62 or 63 timber depots in Hanamkonda Range would
not ipso facto lead to the conclusion that there is no
genuineness of the need and that the request for licence
should be declined.
11. That being the position, we are of the view that
appellant No.3. i.e., District Forest Officer, Hanamkonda
should reconsider the request of the respondent for grant of
licence for operating timber depot and if conditions prescribed
by the aforesaid Rules are fulfilled, he shall grant necessary
licence in accordance with law.
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12. Let the above exercise be completed within a period of
three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
13. Writ Appeal is accordingly disposed of. No costs.
As a sequel, miscellaneous petitions, pending if any,
stand closed.
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UJJAL BHUYAN, CJ
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N.TUKARAMJI, J
Date: 23.02.2023
LUR
