JUDGMENT

Dr. B.R. Sarangi, J. - This is a writ petition, by means of which, a direction has been sought to the opposite parties to grant prospecting license to the petitioner-company for decorative stone (granite) over an area 19.90 Hectare in village-Gunthapada in the district of Ganjam, by declaring Rule-4(12) of the Odisha Minor Mineral Concession Rules , 2016 (OMMC Rules, 2016) as ultra vires to the provisions of Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act, 1957) and Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India, so far as it relates to grant of prospecting license for Granite field under the provisions of Odisha Minor Mineral Concession Rules , 2004 read with Granite Conservation and Development Rules, 1999 (GCD Rules, 1999), and by further declaring Rule 4(4) of the OMMC Rules, 2016 as inconsistent with and repugnant to Rule-4 of the GCD Rules, 1999, so far as it prescribes reconnaissance permit prior to grant of prospecting license and Rule-4(12) renders applications for prospecting license prior to commencement of the Rules as ineligible, being ultra vires to Articles-14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution of India.

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