IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No. 685 of 2005 Date of decision: 22.10.2008. Jagdish Gautam & Ors. … Petitioners Versus State of H.P. & Ors. … Respondents Coram : The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Deepak Gupta, Judge. The Hon’ble Mr. Justice V.K. Ahuja, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 No. For the Petitioners: Mr. B.C. Negi, Advocate. For the respondents: Mr. R.M. Bisht, Deputy Advocate General, for respondents No. 1 to 6. Mr. Lalit Sehgal vice Mr. R.S. Verma, Advocate, for respondent No. 7. Mr. Anup Rattan, Central Govt. Counsel, for respondents No. 8 & 9. Mr. Shrawan Dogra, Advocate, for respondents No. 10 & 11. Deepak Gupta, J.(Oral: This writ petition is purported to have been filed in public interest. The undisputed facts are that one Stone Quarry known as ‘Pashada Dhank’ was being operated by Nathpa Jhakri Power Project for the purpose of extraction of stone. This project has been completed and dedicated to the nation. Thereafter, the N.J.P.C. did not pursue its application for running the Stone Quarry and the area falling under the Stone Quarry reverted to the Forest Department. Thereafter, respondents No. 10 and 11 (Sohan Lal and Mohan Lal) applied for grant of licence to operate the Stone Quarry. Since the 1Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes. 2 Quarry area was part of the forest land, permission to run the Quarry could not be granted by the State without the permission of the Central Government to use forest land for non forest purposes. However, the Joint Inspection Committee recommended the case of respondents No. 10 and 11 for running the Quarry subject to permission being granted by the Central Government. The main grievance of the petitioners is that even when the Quarry was being previously operated by the N.J.P.C. damage was caused to their houses and, therefore, they have objection to the Quarry being operated. At this stage, no Quarry is being operated. The Central Government till date has not given any permission permitting the forest land to be used for any purpose. Therefore, the question of operating a mine at this stage does not arise. This writ petition has been pending for more than one year. We, therefore, dispose of this writ petition with the direction that, in case the Central Government grants permission to divert the forest land and permits the operation of Stone Quarry in the land in question, before the Quarry operations are actually started, the Joint Inspection Committee shall again visit the site and shall hear the petitioners and other concerned villagers, before making its final recommendation. This writ petition is disposed of accordingly. In view of the final disposal of the main petition, all the pending Miscellaneous Applications shall also stand disposed of. ( Deepak Gupta ), Judge. ( V.K. Ahuja ), October 22, 2008 Judge (BSS) 3