TMI Blog2007 (4) TMI 714X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Rules') for grant of quarry lease for quarrying jelly and rough stone for a period of 20 years from the poramboke lands over an extent of 3.64 hectares in survey No.782/2 and over an extent of 2.36 hectares in survey No. 777/4A of Ayyamkollankondam village, Rajapalayam Taluk, Kamarajar District. Rule 39 of the Rules conferred power on the State Government to grant or renew quarry lease or permission in special cases. The validity of the said rule was affirmed by this Court in Premium Granites Anr.v. State of Tamil Nadu Ors. [ (1994) 2 SC 691]. This Court held the rule as valid but the action of the State Government can always be subject to challenge. The writ petitioner approached the High Court of Madras by filing writ Petition No.6931 of 1996 making a grievance that his application under Rule 39 of the Rules was not disposed and as such he prayed for a direction to the State Government to dispose of his application made under Rule 39 of the Rules. By order dated 14.6.1996 the High Court disposed of the writ petition by directing the State Government to consider the application of the writ petitioner and dispose of the same within a period of four weeks from the date of r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r, this Court observed that some of the applications which were pending before introduction of this prohibition, may be dealt with in accordance with the Rules but at the same time it is clarified that no one has vested right for grant of lease in mining. Thereafter, Rule 39 was introduced on 8.3.1993 and that rule provided power to the State Government for relaxation. In the interest of mineral development and in public interest the Government may for the reasons to be recorded, grant or renew a lease or permission to quarry any mineral. The validity of Rule 39 was also challenged but it was upheld by this Court in Premium Granites Anr. (supra). A number of applications were filed under Rule 39 of the Rules before the State Government for grant of lease. Government granted lease in some cases relaxing the power of prohibition but some applications were rejected. Hence, a batch of writ petitions was filed before the Madras High Court. The High Court allowed certain number of writ petitions by order dated 17.3.1995 and issued directions that all pending applications should be disposed of as far as possible within a period of twelve weeks from the date of the order. The High Cou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion, same was challenged after inordinate delay i.e. on 27.4.2003 by the present writ petition, therefore, the writ petition was hopelessly belated. The High Court affirmed the objection of the respondents and in our opinion, rightly so. When the application of the writ petitioner under Rule 39 was rejected on 8.10.1996 by the State Government in pursuance to the direction given by the High Court, the writ petitioner waited up to 27.4.2003 and filed a hopelessly belated writ petition. But strangely enough, the said writ petition was entertained and an interim order was passed and it was not interfered despite the State Government raising an objection. It was only when the third party who felt aggrieved by the said interim order because the writ petitioner on account of this interim order started interfering with his area, that the matter was entertained by the High Court and it was clubbed up together. We are satisfied that there was no justification for the writ petitioner to have waited for a long time. Once the order was passed on 8.10.1996, then there was no need for the writ petitioner to have waited for such a long time. We are in full agreement with the view taken by the Hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... de in 1984 against which repondent filed writ petition in the High Court in 1992. The High Court remanded the matter back to the Revenue Officer for consideration of the matter afresh. Meanwhile, the allotment was further cancelled in 1992. This Court held that due to in ordinate delay in filing the writ petition, the High Court ought not to have entertained the writ petition and accordingly, set aside the order of the High Court. So far as the question of delay is concerned, no hard and first rule can be laid down and it will depend on the facts of each case. In the present case, the facts stare at the face of it that on 8.10.1996 an order was passed by the Collector in pursuance to the order passed by the High Court, rejecting the application of the writ petitioner for consideration of the grant of mining lease. The writ petitioner sat tight over the matter and did not challenge the same up to 2003. This on the face of it appears to be very serious. A person who can sit tight for such a long time for no justifiable reason, cannot be given any benefit. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that when the High Court passed the order on 14.6.1996, at that time Rule 39 was ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... order was passed has been totally knocked out. Rule 39 on the basis of which direction was given was not in existence. Therefore, it could not have been possible for the authorities to have acceded to the request of the writ petitioner. More so, no one has a vested right in mineral lease. In this connection it will be more useful to refer to a decision of this Court in State of Tamil Nadu v. M/s. Hind Stone Ors. [ (1981) 2 SCC 205]. Their Lordships in the aforesaid case observed as follows: The submission was that it was not open to the government to keep applications for the grant of leases and applications for renewal pending for a long time and then to reject them on the basis of Rule 8-C notwithstanding the fact that the applications had been made long prior to the date on which Rule 8-C came into force. While it is true that such applications should be dealt with within a reasonable time, it cannot on that account be said that the right to have an application disposed of in a reasonable time clothes an applicant for a lease with a right to have the application disposed of on the basis of the rules in force at the time of the making of the application. No one has a vest ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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