The petitioner claims to be a Government contractor. According to him, for the purpose of executing contracts for the Government, he needs large quantities of sand. He has large extent of property in Avanavancherry Village in Thiruvananthapuram District by the side of Vamanapuram river which has large deposits of sand, which can be used for construction of buildings, which is his avocation. He wanted to obtain a permit under the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules for the purpose of mining sand from his property. He approached the 1st respondent. The 1st respondent refused to issue him an application for applying for licence. Aggrieved by the same, he approached this Court by filing W.P(C) No. 31262/2006, in which this Court directed the 1st respondent to issue an application form to the petitioner on his producing a copy of the judgment. There was also a direction to consider petitioner's application and to pass orders thereon in accordance with law. The petitioner filed an application for permit. By Ext. P10 order, his application was refused to be considered on the ground that there was a ban order issued by the District Collector, by which the District Collector had banned mining of sand in Thiruvananthapuram district. Alleging that Ext. P10 order amounts to violation of the judgment of this Court in W.P(C) No. 31262/2006, the petitioner filed Cont. Case (C), No. 125/2007 in which a counter affidavit was filed, producing the ban order of the District Collector. In view of that order, the contempt case was closed without prejudice to the right of the petitioner to challenge Ext. P10 and the order of the District Collector. The petitioner has produced the order of the District Collector as Ext. P11 in the writ petition. The petitioner is now challenging Exts.P10 and P11 orders seeking the following reliefs:

"I. Call for the records relating to Ext. P10 and Ext. P11 and issue a writ of certiorari and quash the same.

II. Issue a writ of mandamus directing the 1st respondent to issue quarrying permit to mine ordinary sand from 1.23 acres of his property comprised in Survey Nos. 73/3, 73/4, 73/4-1, 73/5 and 73/6 of Avanavancherry village if he eligible for the same under the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules , 1967.

III. Issue a writ of mandamus directing the 1st respondent not to go by the dictation of the 2nd respondent while he exercises his powers as competent authority under Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1967.

IV. Declare that the 2nd respondent has no powers to regulate mining of ordinary sand under the MKKC Rules, 1967 as stated by the Government in Ext. P 7."

2. The contention of the petitioner is that the District Collector is not vested with any powers under the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules to issue a ban order like Ext. P11. The powers of the District Collector to issue such orders are referable only to the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Mining of Sand Act. As far as mining of ordinary sand is concerned, the same is regulated by the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, which do not contain any provisions empowering the District Collector to pass an order like Ext. P11, is the contention of the petitioner. The petitioner also relies on Ext. P7 order of the Principal Secretary to the Government, Industries Department, in which the Principal Secretary informed the District Collector that the power of the District Collector is restricted to cases of removal of river sand under the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001 and that he has neither any power to regulate the removal of sand from private properties, nor to stay operation of permits issued by the Geologist to remove sand from private properties by invoking the provisions of the said Act. The petitioner would also submit that even assuming that the District Collector has such a power that cannot be for issuing a blanket order banning sand mining without limitation of time.