Important points:
The grant of No-objection Certificate is reserved by the Government as a privilege, no one can claim any corresponding right for grant of that privilege. If no one can claim any corresponding right for grant of that privilege, it cannot be said that the District Collectors are duty bound to consider applications for grant of that privilege as and when requested for by persons aspiring the same.

JUDGMENT :

The petitioner holds a registered land in Thrissur District. The land on the eastern side of the said land is a Government Puramboke. The petitioner intends to obtain a quarrying permit for extracting granite stones under the Kerala Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 2015 (the Rules) from her land as also from the adjoining Government Puramboke. No-objection Certificate from the District Collector is one of the documents to be produced for obtaining quarrying permit under the Rules. The petitioner, therefore, applied to the District Collector for No-objection Certificate. Ext.P2 is the application preferred by the petitioner in this connection. On a reference from the District Collector, the Tahsildar and the Village Officer concerned have forwarded their remarks to the District Collector. In the meanwhile, the Government decided to prescribe guidelines in the matter of considering the requests for grant of No-objection Certificate by the District Collectors for the purpose of obtaining quarrying permits, and directed the District Collectors to refrain from granting No-objection Certificates for the said purpose until the guidelines are prescribed. In the light of the said direction of the Government, the petitioner has been given Ext.P7 communication by the District Collector informing her that her application for grant of No-objection Certificate would be considered only in accordance with the guidelines of the Government, once it is framed.

2. The case of the petitioner is that she being an Indian National, she has a right to obtain quarrying permit in respect of Government lands as well, in terms of Rule 3 of the Rules and therefore, the application preferred by the petitioner for grant of No-objection Certificate cannot be kept pending indefinitely by the District Collector. It is also the case of the petitioner that the application of the petitioner being one preferred long prior to the decision of the Government to prescribe guidelines, the same is liable to be considered by the District Collector following the existing procedure. It is the further case of the petitioner that No-objection Certificates are presently issued based on recommendations of the Tahsildars and Village Officers concerned and the application of the petitioner is also liable to be considered by the District Collector based on the recommendation of the Tahsildar and Village Officer. The petitioner, therefore, seeks direction to the District Collector to consider the application submitted by her, based on the recommendations of the Tahsildar and the Village Officer concerned.

3. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as also the learned Government Pleader.

4. The learned Government pleader has reiterated the stand of the District Collector as informed to the petitioner in terms of Ext.P7 communication.

5. Rule 3 of the Rules relied on by the petitioner to assert that she has a right to obtain quarrying permit reads thus:

“3. Grant of quarrying permit.—(1) On application made to it the competent authority under these rules may grant a quarrying permit to any Indian National to extract any minor mineral, other than the minerals specified in item numbers 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of Schedule I, from any specified land within the limits of its jurisdiction and authority as notified by the Government in the Official Gazette from time to time on payment of royalty as the competent authority may fix on the basis of the rates specified in schedule I or IV, as the case may be and also on payment of such surface rent and cess as may be assessable on the lands.

(2) The competent authority may grant a permit for a lower quantity than applied for or refuse to grant such permit for reasons to be recorded in writing.

(3) The area under a quarrying permit shall be a contiguous unit and shall not exceed one hectare.

(4) The competent authority under these rules shall send a copy of the quarrying permit granted by it to the District Collector and the Secretary of the Loc