TYAGI, J.—This writ petition filed by the Rajasthan Mineral & Company, Jaipur against the order of the Central Government dated 16th May, 1972 (Annexure 1) raises an important question as to when the application for the grant of a mining lease shall be deemed to have been disposed of by the State Government for the purpose of rule 24 of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 (hereinafter called the Rules).

2. The facts and circumstances giving rise to this litigation are, in a nutshell, as follows :

The petitioner along with six other persons made application for the grant of a mining lease in pursuance of a notification issued by the Joint Director (Administration) of Mines and Geology, Rajasthan, dated 27th September, 1965, whereby an area of 1252.85 hectares in villages Nansa, Shivrati, Jhumpura, Bhoor and Rampura was declared open for the grant of mining lease under the Rules. All these applicants submitted their applications for the grant of mining lease on 28th October, 1965. It is said that by its order dated 12th August, 1966, the Government of Rajasthan granted mining lease in favour of the petitioner company and five other applicants, but no order was passed in respect of the a

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