IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) PRESENT HON'BLE MR JUSTICE P.S. NARAYANA WRIT PETITION NO. 23152 OF 2009 Between: Jangalapalli Village Gram Panchayat, Sidhout Mandal, Kadapa District . ..... Petitioner AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, represented by its Principal Secretary Industries & Commerce and four others. .....Respondents ORDER: This Court issued Rule Nisi on 30.10.2009 and granted interim suspension in WPMP No. 30070 of 2009 for a period of three weeks. Proof of service to R5 also had been filed. The present Writ Petition has been filed with the following prayer: “For the reasons stated in the accompanying affidavit, it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court, in the interest of justice, be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction; more particularly, one in the nature of a Writ of Mandamus: (a) declaring the action of the 5th respondent in issuing Memo NO. 1629/M(M&G, H&T)/2009, dated 23.10.2009 as arbitrary, illegal and without jurisdiction and quash or set aside the same; (b) direct the 1st respondent to implement the Memo No. 17363/R9/2009, dated 1.10.2009 and grant temporary permits to lift ordinary sand at Jangalapalli Village, Sidhout Mandal , Kadapa District in favour of the 4th respondent and pass such order or further orders as are deemed fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.” It is stated by the first respondent that he has taken policy decision to grant temporary permits for lifting of ordinary sand at Jangalapalli Village in favour of M/s A.P. Minor Development Corporation Limited (herein after referred to as ‘APMDC Ltd., for brevity) vide Memo No. 7043/SPIC & Sand/209-1, dated 10.6.2009 in terms of Rule 9M of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957 and Rules made there under. It is also stated that the first respondent vide Memo No. 17363/R9/2009, dated 1.10.2009 once again issued orders for grant of temporary permits in favour of M/s APMDC Limited for a period of 60 days. The Executive Engineer, Irrigation Departmnt, Kadapa Division vide proceedings No. DB/986M dated 16.10.2009 communicated to the Assistant Director Mines and Geology , Kadapa and there are no Irrigation schemes affected due to the sand quarry at Jangalapalli Village. The Private Secretary to the Hon’ble Minister for Mines and Geology, the 5th respondent herein, made the order vide memo No. 1629/M (M&F,H-T)/2009, dated 23.10.2009, which is under challenge in this Writ Petition. It is needless to say that the Private Secretary of the concerned Minister is not competent to make such an order. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is hereby allowed. There shall be no order as to costs. ___________________ P.S. NARAYANA,J DATE: 25.11.2009. KA ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1. 2 CD copies