IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION No. 21037 of 2008 Between: C.Shashi Kumar S/o.late Sri C.Sree Ramulu R/o.5-9-22/37, Street No.5,Hill Fort Adarsh Nagar,hyderabad-500063 ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of India, Rep by its Secretary, Ministry of Mines, New Delhi. 2 The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by 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, Ananthapur 5 M/s. East Coast Energy Pvt. Ltd. Rep by its General Manager, K.P. Reddy, R/o. D.No.8-21-22, Satya Sai Nagar, Navpada Road, Tekkali, Srikakulam. .....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 respondent No.2 in not processing my application to the ﬁrst respondent deleting the notiﬁed area in Sy.No.1 of H.Siddapuram vilalge, D.Hirehal Mandal, Anantapur District for prior approval under section 5(1) of Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act,1957 for grant of prospecting licence for Iron Ore as arbitrary, illegal, unjust and in violation of Article 14 of Constitution of India and contrary to Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation )Act, 1957 and Mineral Concession Rules, 1960. Counsel for the Petitioner: SMT.N.SHOBA Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR MINES AND GEOLOGY ` The Court made the following ORDER: The petitioner claims to have ﬁled an application on 10.05.2005 before the fourth respondent with a request to grant prospecting licence for iron ore for about Acs.200.00 of land in survey No.1 of Obulapuram Village, D.Hirehal Mandal, Anantapur District. His grievance is that no orders have been passed thereon. It is stated that in respect of part of the land, prospecting licence was granted in favour of certain agencies and even as regards the balance, the application of the petitioner is not being considered. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Government Pleader for Mines and Geology. The procedure to be followed while processing the application for prospecting licence or mining lease is provided for under the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957, and the Rules made thereunder. More than three years have elapsed ever since the petitioner made the application. In case the application is defective or it is not capable of being acted upon, the fourth respondent ought to have informed the same to the petitioner. The application cannot be kept pending indefinitely. Hence, the writ petition is disposed of, directing respondents 2 to 4 to process the application of the petitioner and pass appropriate orders within a period of ten weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. There shall be no order as to costs. ___________________ L.NARASIMHA REDDY,J Dt:14.10.2008. kdl