IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD TUESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MRS JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI AND THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO : 876 OF 2009 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated 31/10/2008 in WP NO : 23765 OF 2008 on the file of the High Court.) Between: 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh, represented by its Secretary to the Government, Industries and Commerce Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad A.P. 2 Director of Mines and Geology, BRKR Bhavan, 8th floor, Tank Bund Road, Hyderabad A.P. 3 The Assistant Director of Mines and Geology, Kurnool, Kurnool District, A.P. ..... APPELLANTS AND 1 M.Madhusudhan Reddy S/o.M.Narasimha Reddy R/o.Brahmankotkur Village & Post, Nandikotkur Mandal, Kurnool District. 2 The Government of India, Rep by Secretary to the Government, Ministry of mines, New Delhi. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Appellant: GP FOR INDUSTRIES & COMMERCE Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.A.RAJASHEKAR REDDY (ASST SOLICITOR GEN) The Court made the following : JUDGMENT: (Per the Hon’ble Smt. Justice T.Meena Kumari ) Aggrieved by the order, dated 31.10.2008 made in WP MP No.30985 of 2008 in W.P. No. 23765 of 2008 by a learned Single Judge of this court directing the appellants herein to process the application of the first respondent afresh without reference to the ground mentioned in the impugned order, the Government preferred this Writ Appeal. It is case of the first respondent – writ petitioner that he made an application on 6.12.2006 for the grant of mining lease for iron ore, sand stone, quartzite, soap stone and clay over an extent of Ac.1500.00 hects. in compartment Nos. 174 to 179, 179A and 180 of Lanjabanda Reserve Forest, Betancherla Mandal, Kurnool District to the Assistant Director, Mines and Geology after complying with all the statutory requirements. It is further his case that the applications filed by other agencies subsequent to that of the first respondent were processed and his application was rejected by Memo dated 20.9.2008 on the ground that the Government has decided to reserve iron ore bearing areas in Kunrool District. The learned Single Judge vide the order impugned in this Writ Appeal has observed that as recently as in the year 2002 the Government had de-reserved the areas, which were already reserved under Sec. 17-A of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and further observed that the reservation can only be when the Central Government accords approval and the corresponding orders are published in the Gazette. Having regard to these facts, the learned Single Judge directed the appellants herein to process the application of the first respondent afresh, without reference to the grounds mentioned in the impugned order. Aggrieved thereby the Government preferred this Writ Appeal inter alia contending that the direction of the learned Single Judge to process the application of the petitioner without reference to the reservation policy of the Government is not in the interest of public as the State Government has taken a decision to carry out the mining in a systematic and scientific manner and also to conserve the meager mineral resources and to develop iron ore reserves. Evidently, the writ appeal is preferred against the interim orders passed by the learned Single Judge. It appears that no counter is filed in the Writ Petition. Therefore, without adverting to the merits of the contentions raised before us, we propose to dismiss the Writ Appeal giving liberty to the appellants to file appropriate application before the learned Single Judge raising all the pleas available to them under law. With the above direction, the Writ Appeal is dismissed. No order as to costs. _____________________ Justice T. Meena Kumari __________________ Justice Sanjay Kumar June 16, 2009 MAS