JUDGMENT :

The petitioner, a Company in the business of quarrying minerals, has approached this Court challenging Ext.P8 and seeking to direct the respondents to consider and pass orders on Ext.P7 application submitted for conducting quarrying operations under the provisions of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, in the light of the Full Bench judgment of this Court in Tomy Thomas v. State of Kerala and others [2019 (4) KHC 553] and other licences, permits and consents issued to the petitioner by statutory authorities.

2. The petitioner applied to the Director of Mining and Geology seeking quarrying lease for extracting granite building stone from land in Re-survey No.242 of Valayam Village of Vadakara Taluk in Kozhikode District. The Director issued Ext.P1 Letter of Intent. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change granted Ext.P2 Environmental Clearance. The Kerala State Pollution Control Board issued Ext.P3 Consent to Operate. The Additional District Magistrate gave Ext.P4 NOC under Rules 102 and 103 of the Explosive Rules, 2008. The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) issued Ext.P5 Explosives Licence in Form LE-3. By Ext.P6 communication, the District