In all these petitions, petitioners are persons who claim ownership of agricultural lands located at different places, one such being at Rechamballi Village, presently, Chamarajanagar District which is also described as an erstwhile old Mysore area and such lands which are described as patta lands and the owners of such lands being also known as 'pattadars'.

2. It is the admitted position that all petitioners are carrying on quarrying activities which does amount to mining operation as understood under the provisions of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (for short, 'MMDR Act'), Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 as also the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994.

3. Petitioners who extract the mineral, particularly, black granite or the pink granite from the quarries, after cutting boulders and rocks into requisite size, want to transport the same to a port wherefrom it is being exported to foreign countries. Such transportation is governed by Rule 42 of the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994 and necessary application for securing what is known as the mineral dispatch permit in Form MDP had been made by the petitioners. It is in the pro