Unauthorised quarrying in Government poramboke land and compliance with lease renewal under the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1959.

V. Dhanapalan, J.

Petitioner has filed this Writ Petition, praying to quash the proceedings of the respondent, dated 13.03.2000, in Na.Ka.Pi.1032/90.

2. According to the petitioner, he entered into an agreement with the Government of Tamil Nadu on 29.03.1985, for quarrying an extent of 4.64 acres in S.F.No.29,33/2-A-1 and 33/4 AT of Puthur Village, Tiruchirapalli Taluk, for a period of one year; the said lands belong to him and are patta lands; the agreement was extended for two subsequent years and had come to an end on 28.03.1988; though he made several representations for renewal, the same was not considered; he was quarrying rough stones from the said lands and he had a stone crushing machine at Shozhamparai in Pandamangalam, Uraiyur, Trichy; the said lands were inspected by the Deputy Director, Geology and Mines, Trichy, along with other officials, in his absence and without any notice; though he was quarrying only from the patta lands, an order, dated 111. 1991 was passed and served on him on 211. 1991, by which a penalty of Rs.12,16,800/-was imposed and he was also ordered to pay the cost of rough stone, stated to have been quarried from the poramboke land in S.F.No.30/2B, to the tune of Rs.3,12,000/-; totally he was ordered to pay a sum of Rs.15,28,800/-within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of the proceedings.

3. It is also the case of the petitioner that aggrieved over the said order, the petitioner filed W.P.No.17299 of 1991 and, by an order dated 112. 1991, the said Writ Petition was allowed on the ground that the said order was in violation of the principles of natural justice; liberty was also given to the respondent to proceed in accordance with law; thereafter, the Collector issued a notice fixing the date of hearing on 03.03.1992 at 05.30 p.m.; the notice fixing the date of hearing on 03.03.1992 was received only on 04.03.1992 and, hence, he could not participate in the enquiry; thereafter, an order dated 11.03.1992 was passed again demanding penalty; therefore, he filed another Writ Petition No.5758 of 1992 and the said Writ Petition was also allowed by an order dated 09.08.1999 on the ground of violation of principles of natural justice.

4. The further case of the petitioner is that on 25.08.1999, he presented a petition before the respondent through an advocate, stating that he was quarrying in the patta lands; based on the said representation, the Collector, to know whether the petitioner was quarrying in Government poramboke land, directed for measurement of the land; thereafter, without carrying out any inspection, the respondent passed the impugned order dated 13.03.2000, levying penalty of Rs.20,82,101/-. Hence, this Writ Petition.

.5. The respondent has filed a counter affidavit, stating that the petitioner was given a right to remove rough stone from his patta lands in Puthur Village for a period of three years; thereafter, he has not applied for renewal of lease from 29.03.1988 onwards; after a lapse of two-and-a-half years i.e., on 15.09,1990, he sent a petition, requesting for grant of extension of time for carrying operations in the said area; the site was inspected on 05.04.1991 by the Special Tahsildar (Mines) and other officials; during the course of inspection, it was noticed that the petitioner removed large quantity of rough stone from the land in S.F.No.30/2B of Puthur Village, which is a Government land; as there were enormous illicit quarrying operations, the quantity of materials quarried illicitly was assessed and the Collector, in his proceedings, dated 011. 1991, ordered the petitioner to pay a penalty of Rs.12,16,800/-besides the material cost of Rs.3,12,000/- under Rules 3 and 21 of the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules,1959; against the said order, the petitioner filed a Writ Petition before this High Court in W.P.No.17229 of 1991, wherein orders were passed, observing that an opportunity should be given to the petitioner to explain his case; ac