IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF MARCH TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION NO : 15173 of 2007 Between: Smt. Shaik Nusrath Banu, W/o.Abdul. Gani, R/o.D.No.26-44-22,2/1 Venkataramana Colony(Near NGO'S Colony) Guntur Dist. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The State of A.P, Rep.by its Secretary(Mines) Govt. of A.P,Secretariat Bulidings.Hyd-22 2 The Director of Mines & Geology,8th Floor, B.R.K.R.R. Buildings,Tank Bund Road,Hyd-500029. 3 The Dy. Director of Mines & Gelogy,Guntur, H.No.1/1,Ramannapet, 1st Lane,Kottipadu, Guntur Dist-522002. 4 The Asst. Director of Mines & Gelogy, H.No.5-76/22, 4th Lane, 2nd cross Road, Pandaripuram, Guntur Dist.522002 .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction more so one in the nature of mandamus declaring the inaction on the part of the respondents in not disposing of the quarry lease application dt.16-04-2007 of the petitioner in an extent of 10 Acres in Survey No.155/A1, Plot No.15&16 of the Chinapalakaluru(V), Guntur Rural Mandal, Guntur Dist along with other applications as illegal, arbitrary, violatiove of the provisions of the Mines and Minerals(Development & Regulation) Act,1957 and the Rules made thereunder apart from being violative of Article 14 of the constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents to dispose of the said application dt.16-04-2007 of the petitioner within a fixed period of time along with the other application in the interest of law and justice. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.PANNALA.SRINIVAS Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR MINES AND GEOLOGY The Court made the following : Form-NIC-OGS/WP{BMR} O R D E R:- This writ petition is filed seeking a mandamus to declare the action of the respondents 1 to 4 in not disposing of the petitioner’s application dated 16.4.2007 for grant of lease for quarry operations over an extent of Ac.10.00 cents of land in S.No.155/A1, Plot Nos.15 & 16 situated in Chinapalakaluru village, as arbitrary and illegal. The petitioner asserts that she made an application dated 16.4.2007 for grant of lease for quarry operations for Mineral, Road Metal and Building Stones over an extent of Ac.10.00 cents of land in S.No.155/A1, Plot Nos.15 & 16 situated in Chinapalakaluru village, Guntur Rural Mandal, Guntur District, to the 3rd respondent-Director of Mines and Geology through the 4th respondent-Asst. Director of Mines and Geology in Form-B. Thereafter, her application was referred to the 1st respondent-Government for consideration. Now, the petitioner’s grievance is that though she made her application about an year ago, the respondents have not considered and disposed of it so far. Heard the learned counsel for the both the parties and perused the material placed on record. The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that The Perecherla Quarry Workers Labour Cooperative Society Limited, which is impleaded as the 5th respondent in this writ petition, submitted its application on 26.6.2007 and the petitioner had already filed her objections dated 9.8.2007 stating that the Society is not entitled to the grant of lease of the land in question for quarry operations. Inasmuch as all these facts are to be decided by the competent authority i.e. the 1st respondent, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the 1st respondent to consider the petitioner’s application dated 16.4.2007, 5th respondent’s application dated 26.6.2007 and the objections filed by the petitioner on 9.8.2007 and pass appropriate orders in accordance with, law within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. In terms of the above direction, this writ petition is disposed of. No costs. _______________ 28.03.2008 Note: Furnish copy in three days. B/o bcj