Licence for quarry operations in Sivakalai suspended: State to HC
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Madurai: The state informed the
Madras high court
that a licence granted for quarrying operations in Sivakalai village in Tuticorin district has been suspended since the area was notified as the Sivakalai archaeological site.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by D Muthuramalingam. The petitioner stated that the authorities granted permission to establish a stone quarry in a patta land situated in Sivakalai village in Nov 2024. The quarry is located near the Sivakalai archaeological site. Following protests, the authorities stopped the quarrying operations temporarily.
He stated that using explosives in the quarry would affect the site.
Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking a direction to the authorities to cancel the permission granted for the stone quarry and also sought not to grant permissions for quarries near the site.
The additional govt pleader submitted that the assistant director of geology and mines, Tuticorin, suspended the licence granted for quarry operations in favour of a person by taking note of the fact that the area was notified as an archaeological site.
He submitted that as of now, no mining operations are being carried out.
Taking into account the submissions, a division bench of justice S M Subramaniam and justice A D Maria Clete observed that if the person who was granted the licence is aggrieved by the order passed by the authorities, the person is at liberty to approach the competent appellate authority in the manner contemplated under the Act and Rules. The judges made it clear that until a final decision is taken by the competent authorities or appellate authority, no mining operation shall be permitted, and the authorities are directed to ensure that the subject land is protected from any mining activities.
Rejecting the request by the counsel appearing for the person who was granted the licence to fix an outer time for disposal of appeal by the authorities, the judges observed that the fact remains that no appeal is pending before the district collector as of today. That apart, the high court, in the exercise of its powers of judicial review, need not direct the appellate authority to dispose of the appeal by fixing an outer time limit.
The workload of the competent authority must be taken into consideration. If such a blanket direction is issued, the authorities may not be in a position to dispose of the same within the stipulated time. Therefore, the high court, without ascertaining the workload of the subordinate courts, original authority, or appellate authority, cannot issue a direction fixing a timeline for the disposal of the matters, the judges observed and disposed of the petition.
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