IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE SIXTH DAY OF MARCH TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION NO : 10829 of 2009 Between: St. Mary's College of Engineering, Chebrolu Village and Mandal, Guntur. Rep by its Secretary cum Corespondent, Rev.K.V.K.Rao,aged 47 years, Occ: Educationist, R/o. Plot No.102, High Court Colony Vanasthalipuram Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Director, Department of Mines and Geology, 8th Floor, BRKR Bhavan, Hyderabad. 2 The Assistant Director, Department of Mines and Geology, Guntur. 3 Mandal Revenue Officer, Chebrolu Village and Mandal, Guntur District. .....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 declare the action of the 1st respondent in not considering and disposing of the appeal No.7060 of 2009 along with the application for stay b. and the action of the 2nd and 3rd respondents in taking coercive steps under the provisions of A.P. Revenue Recovery Act, 1864 to realize the amounts adjudged due by the 2nd respondent vide his proceedings dated 19-1-2009 during the pendency of the above appeal as arbitrary, illegal offending Article 14 to the Constitution of India. by way of issue of a writ, order or a direction, one more particularly in the nature of writ of mandamus and issue a consequential direction to the 1st respondent to dispose of the appeal No.7060 of 2009 forthwith. Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.S.SRI RAM Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR MINES AND GEOLOGY The Court made the following : O R D E R:- The main grievance of the petitioner-St. Mary’s College of Engineering is that it filed a statutory Appeal, which is numbered as Appeal No.7060 of 2009 before the 1st respondent-Director of Mines & Geology against the Notice dated 19.01.2009 issued by the 2nd respondent-Assistant Director of Mines & Geology demanding the petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.14,74,296/- towards seignorage fee and penalty five times of the fee, under Rule 35 of the Andhra Pradesh Mines and Minerals Act, 1966 (“for short “the Act”), and while the matter is under consideration, the 2nd and the 3rd respondents are taking coercive steps to realize the amount from the petitioner under the A.P. Revenue Recovery Act, 1864. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned Government Pleader for Mines and Geology appearing for respondent Nos.1 and 2 and the learned Government Pleader for Revenue appearing for the 3rd respondent, and having regard to the fact that the appeal filed by the petitioner is pending consideration before the 1st respondent, this Court is not inclined to go into the merits of the case, but deems it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition with the following directions: “The 1st respondent-Director of Mines and Geology is directed to consider and dispose of the Appeal No.7060 of 2009 said to have been preferred by the petitioner on 20.02.2009, in accordance with law, expeditiously, in any case, not later than two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.” Accordingly, this writ petition is disposed of. No costs. ______________ N.V.RAMANA, J 3rd June, 2009 bcj