The court established the application of the deeming provision for license renewal and clarified the legal requirements for renewal, addressing the interference by the Panchayat Committee and the necessity of permission from the Irrigation Officer for mining operations near water bodies.

JUDGMENT :

1. The prayers in the above two writ petitions are as follows:

W.P.(C) No.20081/2021

2. The petitioners are owners of land in which the 3rd respondent is conducting mining operations on the basis of licence issued by respondents 1 and 2. An agreement had been entered into on 01.11.2014 between the petitioners and the 3rd respondent regarding the quarrying operation, a copy of which has been produced as Ext.P1. Ext.P1 was followed by Ext.P2 agreement dated 24.1.2020. The prayer in the writ petition is for a direction to respondents 1 and 2 to consider Ext.P5 complaint filed by the 2nd petitioner on 16.7.2021 and a mass petition submitted by 17 local residents including petitioners 2 and 3, and, not to issue any licence to the 3rd respondent under the Kerala Panchayat (Licensing of Dangerous and Offensive Trades and Factories) Rules (the Rules for short).

W.P.(C) No.20807/2021

3. The writ petition is filed by the 3rd respondent in W.P. (C) No.20081/2021 against the Panchayat and its Secretary, praying to quash Exts.P11 and P15 issued by the 2nd respondent, and, to direct the 2nd respondent to renew Ext.P8 trade licence for the year 2021-22, for which Ext.P10 application had been submitted by the petitioner before the 2nd respondent on 15.3.2021. There is also a prayer for a declaration that the petitioner is entitled for a deemed licence under Section 236(3) of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (the Act for short) for operating the quarry of the petitioner covered by Ext.P7, for the year 2021-22 and a direction to the 2nd respondent to issue a licence in the paper form.

4. The issues involved in the above writ petitions are intrinsically connected and hence they are being heard and disposed of together. The reference to the exhibits and parties are, unless otherwise specified, as they appear in W.P.(C) No.20807 of 2021.

5. The petitioner has obtained environmental clearance as per Ext.P2 dated 28.2.2018 for carrying out the quarrying operations. He has been issued with Ext.P3 Form LE III licence under the Explosives Rules, 2008, on 25.4.2012, for stocking explosives and using the same in his quarry, which has been renewed till 31.3.2023. Ext.P1 is the letter of intent granted by the Director, Mining and Geology on 27.7.2017 for operating the quarry. As per Ext.P1, the documents that are required to be produced by the petitioner are the EC, Consent from Pollution Control Board, Explosive Licence and the D&O Licence from the Local Government authorities concerned. The integrated consent to operate issued by the Pollution Control Board has been produced as Ext.P4 and it is valid till 1.3.2023. The petitioner approached the 1st respondent for trade licence by producing Exts.P1 to P4 under Section 232 of the Act and for permission to operate the quarry under Section 233 of the Act. The Committee of the 1st respondent granted permission. Ext.P5 is the minutes of the meeting of the Grama Panchayat held on 14.3.2018. On 26.3.2010, the 2nd respondent issued Ext.P6 no objection certificate. Thereafter, Ext.P7 quarrying lease was executed between the State Government and the petitioner on 16.4.2018 which is valid upto 15.4.2030. On the basis of the above licenses, the 2nd respondent granted trade licence for operating the quarry for the financial year 2018-19, which was renewed till the year 2020-21. Ext.P8 is the trade licence issued by the 2nd respondent for operating the quarry for the period 2020-21.

6. The quarry is being operated in the property belonging to the petitioners in W.P.(C) No.20081 of 2021. Ext.P9 dated 1.11.2014 is the agreement executed between owners of the land and the petitioner. As per the agreement, the owners have granted permission to the petitioner to conduct the quarrying operations for a period of 12 years. The petitioner applied for renewal of the trade licence for the period from 1.4.2021 to 31.3.2022, as per Ext.P10 dated 15.3.2021. On receipt of Ext.P10 application, the 2nd respondent informed the peti