JUDGMENT :

N. NAGARESH, J.

1. In these three writ petitions, the petitioners are aggrieved by the decision of the Secretary to Grama Panchayat in declining approval of Building Permit applications indicating requisite quantity of ordinary earth to be removed to facilitate building constructions. The facts in these writ petitions are almost identical and hence these writ petitions are heard together and being disposed of by a common judgment.

2. The petitioners hold land in Monippally Village in Meenachil Taluk. The petitioners wanted to construct residential buildings in their respective lands. The constructions necessitate providing open space and laying of pathway to the nearby road which, in turn, requires levelling of land and removal of ordinary earth. The petitioners submitted applications for Building Permit along with building plans showing details of earth cutting necessary.

3. By Ext.P5, the petitioners were informed that the Panchayat Committee had taken a decision on 23.11.2018 not to grant permits to extract ordinary earth in a quantity of above 500 cubic metres, within the territorial limits of the Panchayat. They were informed that each of them can be permitted to extrac