Benny K.T. v. Union of India and others

## **IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM** ## **PRESENT** ## **THE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR.S.MANIKUMAR** ## **&** ## **THE HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE ANU SIVARAMAN MONDAY, THE 19[TH] DAY OF JULY 2021 / 28TH ASHADHA, 1943 WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017** ## **PETITIONER:** BENNY K.T., AGED 45 YEARS, S/O.THOMAS, KUNALI HOUSE, KUMARANELLUR VILLAGE, WADAKANCHERY, THRISSUR. BY ADVS.SRI.A.X.VARGHESE SRI.A.V.JOJO ## **RESPONDENTS:** - 1 UNION OF INDIA, REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS, PARIYAWARAN BHAVAN, NEW DELHI, PIN-110001. - 2 STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE CHIEF SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OF KERALA, GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695001. - 3 STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, DEPARTMENT OF MINING AND GEOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIES, GOVERNMENT OF KERALA, GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695001. - 4 THE DIRECTOR OF MINING GEOLOGY, DIRECTORATE OF MINING AND GEOLOGY, KESAVADASAPURAM, PATTAM PALACE P.O., THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695004. - 5 STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, GOVERNMENT OF KERALA, STATE SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPUARM-695001. - 6 THE KERALA STATE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD, MEMBER SECRETARY, PATTOM P.O., THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695004. WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 2 :: - 7 THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR, COLLECTORATE, THRISSUR-680001. 8 THE GEOLOGIST, DISTRICT OFFICE OF THE MINING AND GEOLOGY, MINI CIVIL STATION, CHEMBUKAVU, THRISSUR-680020. BY ADVS.SRI.B.PREM KUMAR, CGC SRI. TEK CHAND , SR. GOVERNMENT PLEADER SRI.SURIN GEORGE IPE, SR.G.P. SRI.P.VIJAYAKUMAR, ASG FOR R1 SRI.T.NAVEEN, SC FOR R6 THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 19.07.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 3 :: ## **JUDGMENT** ## **S.MANIKUMAR, C.J.** This public interest litigation is filed seeking for a direction to the respondents to implement the provisions of the EIA Notification, 2006 in Thrissur district strictly and in accordance with directions contained in judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in **Deepak Kumar and others v. State of Haryana reported in 2012 (4) SCC 629** and the subsequent judgment of this Hon'ble Court **All Kerala River Protection Council Vs. State of Kerala (2015 (3) KLT 78)** and **the Paristhithy Samrakshana** . **Janakeeya Samithy and another v. State of Kerala and others** 2. Prayers sought for in this writ petition are as follows: “i) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondents to implement the provisions of the EIA Notification, 2006 in Thrissur District strictly and in accordance with directions contained in the Judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in Deepak Kumar and others Vs. State of Haryana reported in 2012(4) SCC 629 and the subsequent judgment of this Hon'ble Court All Kerala River Protection Council Vs. State of Kerala (2015 (3) KLT 78) and The Paristhithy Samrakshana Janakeeya Samithy and another Vs. State of Kerala and others; ii) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondents to cancel all the Quarry Leases and Quarrying Permits in Thrissur district issued by it without the Environmental Clearance as obtaining envisaged under the EIA Notification, 2006; iii) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or appropriate writ, order or WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 4 :: direction, fixing personal liability to the concerned respondents for its failure in issuing and renewing of Quarry Leases and issuing and renewing of the Consent to Operate without obtaining the Environmental Clearance and allowing such units to operate in Thrissur District and for the consequent degradation caused to the Mineral Deposits of the State; iv) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ, order or direction to respondents to ensure that no quarrying operations are undertaken in Thrissur District by anyone without proper and valid licenses and consent and permit from the concerned authorities as provided under law;” 3. On the basis of the averments and supporting documents Mr.A.X.Varghese, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that inaction of the respondents in stopping the illegal quarries in the State amounts to violation of the judgments in All Keral River Protection Council V. State of Kerala 2015 (3) KLT 78 and the Paristhithy Samrakshana Janakeeya Samithy and another v. State of Kerala and others. 4. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials available on record. 5. A detailed counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of 8[th] respondent/the Geologist, District office of the Mining and Geology wherein it is stated that all the mineral extraction in Thrissur District has WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 5 :: to be regulated as per the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957 and Kerala Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Storage and Transportation) Rules, 2015 only through District level office of the department. It is also averred that this respondent has taken stringent action and possible steps to curb the illicit quarries functioning in the district without permit/Environmental Clearance. It is assured by the respondent that with the limited resource and infrastructure, the 8[th] respondent has taken maximum efforts to curb the illicit mining activities of granite building stone in the District till date. Relevant portion of the counter affidavit reads as under: “3. It is respectfully submitted that the above Writ Petition is preferred by the petitioner to direct the respondents to issue stop memo to all quarry operators who are extracting granite building stone in Thrissur District without having Environmental Clearance. Since Environmental clearance is made mandatory in the Deepak Kumar Case by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and notification No.S.O.141(E) dated 15.01.2016 of the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change, (MoEF & CC), Government of India. Thereby as per the EIA notification No.S.O. 1533(E) dated 14.09.2016 of MoEF and CC B2 category projects pertaining to mining of minor minerals of lease area less than or equal to 5 Hectors shall require prior environmental clearance from the District Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA). 4. It is respectfully submitted that this respondent has taking stringent action and possible steps to curb the illicit quarries functioning in the district without permit/Environmental Clearance. Till date this respondent WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 6 :: had detected 33 illicit quarries in Thrissur District and stop memo, notices and demand notices were issued to the illegal operators. And this respondent takes further action on the violation by sending communication to the District Superintendent of Police, Thrissur (Rural and City) for further initiation of prosecution. Moreover as per the administrative report for the financial year 2017-18 this respondent could collect an amount of Rs.2,65,49,018/- as royalty, price and fine towards illicit extraction of granite building stone. In some cases the offenders have submitted appeal petition before the Deputy Secretary, Industries Department and proceedings of such are pending for consideration. The Hon'ble Apex Court in Deepak Kumar Vs. State of Haryana and others states that leases for minor minerals including the renewal, for an area less than 5 Hectare can be granted only after getting Environmental Clearance (EC) from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF). Thereafter the Hon'ble Apex Court disposed of SLP Nos.32072/2015, 33130/2015, 36037/2015, 36038/2015, 36036/2015 and 32259/2016 on 02.12.2016 by upholding the decision, making environmental clearance as mandatory for extraction of minor minerals including Granite (Building Stone). 5. The Government of India constituted District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA) and District Level Expert Appraisal Committee (DEAC) vide notification No.S.O. 190(E) dated 20.01.2016 of the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change. The District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA) has been constituted by appointing District Collector as Chairman and District Level Expert Appraisal Committee (DEAC) is formed by appointing the senior most Executive Engineer, Irrigation Department as Chairperson. Both these bodies are formed on the existing State Environment Impact Assessment Authority and State Environment Appraisal Committee. Accordingly as per proceedings No.B6-23270/16(1) and 23270/16(2) dated 24.08.2016 of the District Collector, Thrissur constituted DEIAA and DEAC and both these bodies functioning to consider and dispose the applications for environmental WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 7 :: clearance for mining of minor minerals in the area within their jurisdiction, having an area less than or equal to 5 hectares. During the period from 01.01.2017 till date the DEIAA has accepted 30 applications for extraction of granite building stone and out of which 9 environmental clearances have been granted and 9 applications has been appraised with recommendation by DEAC and forwarded to DEIAA for environmental clearance. The remaining applications are under process. During the above mentioned period the Director of Mining and Geology, Thiruvananthapuram has granted 9 quarrying leases for extraction of granite building stone on the basis of environmental clearance obtained from SEIAA, Thiruvananthapuram and DEIAA, Thrissur. It is also submitted that most of the quarry operators are aware of necessity of obtaining environmental clearance for quarrying operations and started to submit applications in this matter. 6. It can be seen that the contentions of the petitioner that many quarries in Thrissur District are operating without permit or license is against facts and only assumption made by the petitioner. As per the updated records there are 48 long term valid quarrying leases including 15 RMCU Crushers working in this district. Out of which 16 quarries have stopped functioning due to initiation of litigation and complaints relates to assigned land and connected reasons. In the same way many other quarries which were in operation were also stopped. Moreover as per the circular instructions having No.10744/M3/2017 dated 28.11.2017 from the Director of Mining and Geology this respondent conducted surprise inspection in most of the quarries allegedly illicit quarrying in Thrissur District in December 2017 and detected 13 cases of illicit quarrying operations. Thereby royalty, price and fine were realized from the offenders and as mentioned above this respondent recently preferred communication to the District Police Chief, Thrissur (City and Rural) to take stringent action against those that continued with illicit operations of granite building stone quarry despite the issuance of repeated stop memo and notices. 7. It is further submitted that this respondent has WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 8 :: carried out, the implementation of Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957 and Kerala Minerals (Prevention of illegal Mining, Storage and Transportation) Rules, 2015 with bonafide intention, whereby prevented unauthorized mining and transportation of minor minerals in the district till date. Based on judgment dated 26.06.2015 in W.P.(C)No.14605/2015 and judgment dated 25.05.2016 in WP(C) No.17365/2016 and connected cases of Hon'ble High Court of Kerala, guidelines have been issued for fixing the quantum of compounding fee for offences and seizure of vehicles involved in illegal extraction and transportation of minerals by vide Government Order G.O.(MS)No.51/2017/ID dated 21.06.2017 of Industries (A) Department. By stringent implementation of the said guidelines and an amount of Rs. 2,65,49,018/- has collected as royalty, price and fine and the same has been remitted to the Government during the financial year 2017-18 against the illicit mining activities within the Thrissur District and 33 cases of illicit mining of granite building stone were detected and follow up action taken to curb the illicit mining activities within Thrissur District, and the reports for the follow up action communicated to the District Police Chief for initiating prosecution against the violators. 8. Based on the complaint submitted by the petitioner this respondent sent a detailed letter vide AR 716/C2/TDO/2017 dated 23.03.2017 to the District Police Chief (Rural and City) to initiate action against the persons who are engaged in illicit quarrying operations by using explosives after the reported judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court. Therefore the contention made by the petitioner that huge loss is occurred to the public exchequer is only a fallacy. In such circumstance it is further submitted that Thrissur District is having 7 vast Taluks and 254 Villages having an area of 3032 square kilometers. All the mineral extraction in Thrissur District has to be regulated as per the Act and Rules only through District level office of the Department. The activities of this respondent are under the provisions of Act and Rules are carried out with 3 field staff within the District, which includes two Assistant Geologists WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 9 :: and one Mineral Revenue Inspector. By standing with such limited resources or infrastructures, this respondent has taken maximum efforts to curb the illicit mining activities of granite building stone in the District till date.” 6. Perusal of the counter affidavit of the 8[th] respondent/the Geologist, shows that appropriate action has been taken. Considering the entire facts and circumstances of the case, we are not inclined to entertain this writ petition at this stage. Moreover, it is assured by the 8[th] respondent/the Geologist in this affidavit filed that by standing with the limited resources or infrastructures, they have taken maximum efforts to curb the illicit mining activities of granite building stone in the District till date. Writ petition is dismissed. **SD/S.MANIKUMAR CHIEF JUSTICE** **SD/ANU SIVARAMAN JUDGE** jes WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 10 :: ## **APPENDIX** ## PETITIONER EXHIBITS - EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF THE COMPLAINT DATED 31-1-2017. - EXHIBIT P1(A) TRUE COPY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT P1. EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF THE INFORMATION SOUGHT FOR UNDER THE R.I.ACT DATED 18-2-2017. - EXHIBIT P2(A) TRUE COPY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT P2. - EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF THE INFORMATION OBTAINED UNDER R.I.ACT DATED 18-3-2017. - EXHIBIT P3(A) TRUE COPY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT P3. - EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF THE DETAILS OF THE LICENSED QUARRYING LEASE HOLDERS. - EXHIBIT P5 TRUE COPY OF THE DETAILS OF THE GRANITE QUARRIES WHICH HAVE OBTAINED ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE IN THRISSUR DISTRICT. - EXHIBIT P6 TRUE COPY OF THE LIST OF REGISTERED METAL CRUSHER UNITS. - EXHIBIT P7 TRUE COPY OF THE INFORMATION OBTAINED UNDER R.I.ACT DATED 7-3-2016. - EXHIBIT P7(A) TRUE COPY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT P7. - EXHIBIT P8 TRUE COPY OF THE RECEIPT OF THE COMPLAINT GIVEN TO THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR DATED 31-1-2017. - EXHIBIT P8(A) TRUE COPY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT P8. - EXHIBIT P9 TRUE COPY OF THE REPORT SUBMITTED BY THE S.I. OF POLICE, WADAKKANCHERY TO THE 8TH RESPONDENT DATED 18-3-2017. - EXHIBIT P9(A) TRUE COPY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT P9. - EXHIBIT P10 TRUE COPY OF THE COMPLAINT DATED 24-3-2017. WP(C) NO. 13738 OF 2017 :: 11 :: |EXHIBIT P10(A)|TRUE COPY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT P10.| |---|---| |EXHIBIT P11|TRUE COPY OF THE RECEIPT DATED 24-3-2017.| |EXHIBIT P11(A)|TRUE COPY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF EXHIBIT P11.| // TRUE COPY // P.S. TO JUDGE