The main legal point established is that for quarry operations involving rock stone cutting or storing, no separate licence is required under items 84 and 87 of the Schedule to the Kerala Panchayats (Licensing of Dangerous and Offensive Trades and Factories) Rules, 1963.

1. Respondents 8 & 9 in the Original Petition are the appellants. The O.P. was filed by an Association and three other residents of Kummanode challenging the running of the quarry by the appellants herein on the ground of pollution and violations of statutory provisions. Learned single Judge held that the appellant firm has to obtain licences required under different statutes as indicated in the judgment before continuing its operations. Appeal is against this judgment.

2. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants fairly concedes that the appellants ought to take out the required licences and permissions under the various statutes. But their only objection is to the observation of the learned single Judge that the appellants should take out a separate licence under items 84 & 87 in the schedule to the Kerala Panchayats (Licensing of Dangerous and Offensive Trades and Factories) Ruler,1963; hereinafter referred to as the Rules. As the appellants have obtained all other permissions and licences and they do not have any objection also to fulfill, satisfy and obtain any other required licences excepting separate licences as indicated by the learned single Judge under items 84 and 87, the question that arises for consideration is whether separate licences are required under these items.

3. Admittedly the appellants have obtained licence from the Panchayat Ext. R8(aa) for item No. 101 in Schedule I to the Rules. The contention on behalf of respondents I to 4 is that apart from the licence under item No. 101 separate licences are required under items 84 and 87. as held by the learned single Judge. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Panchayat supports the case of the appellants and submits that the license issued under item No. 101 to the schedule would be sufficient for the running of the appellant firm since rock stone cutting and storing involves different processes and for each process no separate licence is required.

4. For the purpose of appreciating the contentions we extract below the items in the schedule referred by the counsel.

"84. Manufacturing articles from which offensive or unwholesome smell fumes dust or noise arise.

87. Metals (including precious metals)-Beating. breaking, hammering, casting etc.

101. Rock stone-Cutting or storing."

The factory would not come under item 87 since they are not dealing with metals. 'Metal' has been defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, 7th Edition as any of a class of elements such as gold, silver, copper, iron. lead. tin. aluminium, uranium, etc, all of which are crystalline when solid and many of which are opaque, ductile, malleable. dense, good conductors of heat and electricity, and characterized by a peculiar lustre. From the definition of metals, it is very clear that one of the vital ingredients of metal is its malleable nature. Whereas rock stone and stone cutting would not come under the category of metal.

5. S.96 of the Kerala Panchayats Act, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) provides for the Panchayat to notify that no place in the Panchayat area shall be used for any purpose specified in the rule without a licence. R.3 enables the Government to specify in Schedule.1 to these Rules the purposes which are likely to be offensive or dangerous to human life "or health or property. Thus the Government has specified the purposes which are likely to be offensive and the Panchayat has notified the places or area which could not be used for the said purpose without a licence. The purpose for which all the activities are mentioned in Schedule I are therefore, according to the Government, likely to be offensive and dangerous to human life etc. Therefore, in so far as the present case is concerned, the appellants have taken out a licence under item No. 101, the purpose being rock stone cutting or storing. Licence is required because rock stone cutting is likely to cause offence or danger to human life or health or property. Cutting rock may involve breakin