IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE FIRST DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 18760 of 2008 Between: T.Mahaboob Basha, S/o. T.Ameer Miya, R/o. Uyyalawada Village, Orvakal Mandal, Kurnool District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of India, rep by its Secretary, Ministry of Mines, New Delhi. 2 The Government of andhra Pradesh, rep y its Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 3 The Director of Mines and Geology, BRKR Building, 8th Floor, Tank bund road, Hyderabad. 4 The Asst. Director of Mines and Geology, Kurnool .....RESPONDENTS 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 an order or writ one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the respondents in not passing order on the application of the petitioner dated 05.05.2005 for grant of Mining Lease over an extent of Acs.30.00 in Sy.Nos.762, of Uyyalawada Village, Oravakal Mandal, Kurnool District as prescribed in G.O.Ms.No.181, Industries and Commerce Department, dated 28-05-1998 by passing ﬁnal orders on recommendations to the Government of India and not granting the Mining Lease as arbitrary, illegal, unjust and violations of Mines Lease as arbitrary, illegal, unjust and violation of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 and G.O.Ms.No.1814, Industries and Commerce (MI) Department, dated 28-05-1998. Counsel for the Petitioner: SMT.N.SHOBA Counsel for the Respondents: MR.A.RAJASHEKAR REDDY (ASST SOLICITOR GEN) The Court made the following ORDER: The petitioner submitted an application for grant of mining lease, to quarry Iron Ore in Acs.30.00 of land in Uyyalawada Village, Oravakal Mandal, Kurnool District on 05.05.2005. The application was processed at various levels and it is represented that the Director of Mines and Geology, the third respondent herein, has forwarded the same with positive recommendation to the Government of A.P., the second respondent herein. The petitioner contends that the next step involved is, forwarding the matter by the second respondent to the Government of India, the ﬁrst respondent herein and for the reasons best known to it, the second respondent is withholding the application. Therefore, necessary directions are sought. Heard Smt.N.Shoba, the learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned Standing Counsel for the ﬁrst respondent and the learned Government Pleader for Mines and Geology for respondents 2 to 4. As recently as on 19.05.2008, the second respondent issued a Memo, to the eﬀect that the State Government has taken a policy decision to reserve the Iron Ore bearing areas in the Districts of Kadapa and Kurnool for exclusive exploitation by A.P. Mineral Development Corporation Limited, as required under Section 17-A (2) of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act 1957. The decision of the ﬁrst respondent in this regard is said to be awaited. As long as the Memo holds the ﬁeld, the question of processing the application of the petitioner does not arise. If the petitioner feels aggrieved by the said Memo, he has to assail the same before an appropriate forum. Therefore, the writ petition is dismissed, leaving it open to the petitioner to challenge the Memo, dated 19.05.2008, before an appropriate forum. There shall be no order as to costs. __________________ L.NARASIMHA REDDY,J Dt:01.09.2008. kdl