Mining or non-forest activity within a notified reserve forest is prohibited without prior approval from the central government under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, regardless of contradictory classifications in revenue records or administrative permissions granted by state departments.

The Court made the following:

ORDER:

This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is filed seeking a writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondent No.8 in issuing notice, dated 27.11.2025, in spite of granting permission by the concerned authorities and issuing work orders as illegal, arbitrary, violation of the legal duty and violation of the Articles 14, 16, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and to set aside the notice, dated 27.11.2025, issued by the respondent No.8 and consequently direct the official respondents herein not to interfere with the peaceful activity of the petitioner as per the leasehold rights.

2. The case of the petitioner, briefly stated, is as follows:

a. The petitioner was granted quarry lease for a period of ten (10) years in the land to an extent of Ac.2.697 hectares in Sy.No.31/P of Veerlagunapadu village, Ozili mandal, S.P.S.R. Nellore district, vide lease deed granted by the Deputy Director, Mines & Geology, Guntur, vide proceeding No.3946/Q/AD(N)/2006, dated 25.11.2006. The petitioner made an application on 10.08.2023 to the mining authorities for renewal of the quarry lease for Road Metal & Gravel for a further period of 10 years in the same land. The District Mines & Geology Officer, Nellore, after considering all the relevant papers approved the proposal vide Lr.No.2256/AMP/DMGO/NLR/2024, dated 12.07.2024. The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board also issued consent order, dated 15.05.2025. The Divisional Mines & Geology Officer, Gudur, Tirupathi District, addressed a letter to the petitioner, on 16.04.2025, to submit relevant documents to enter into the lease deed. Accordingly, a lease deed was executed on 24.06.2025 and a work order was also issued on the even date.

b. When a joint survey was conducted by the forest and the revenue authorities, a joint survey report, dated 20.04.2021, was submitted categorically observing that as per the records of the revenue department, the entire land of Ac.269.71 cents is poramboke land and that there is no proof or evidence produced by the forest authority that it was handed over to the forest department. All the authorities have knowledge of the above joint survey report, yet, the work order was issued on 24.06.2025. The subject matter land under lease does not come under the reserve forest area. In a similar writ petition filed by third party in W.P.No.1315 of 2019, the revenue authorities filed sworn counter affidavit stating that the land in Sy.No.31/P of Veerlagunapadu village is not within the reserve forest area. When the petitioner was ready to start the work, the respondent No.8 issued a notice, dated 27.11.2025, to the petitioner with the averments contrary to the permissions and facts besides law, informing to the petitioner that the entire land of the lease given to the petitioner is within the reserve forest notified under Section 15 of the A.P. Forest Act, 1967 (for short, “Act, 1967’), vide G.O.Ms.No.1815, Food & Agriculture (Forest.III) Department, dated 05.09.1967, to an extent of 307 acres, out of which 269.71 acres in Sy.No.31 is part and described it as Veerlagunapadu-B Reserve Forest and further stated that the District Forest Officer, Nellore, had addressed letter to the Assistant Director, Mines & Geology, Nellore, that it has no jurisdiction to grant any mining lease in the said land without prior permission of the central government in violation of the provisions of the Act, 1967 and Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (for short, ‘Act, 1980’) and consequently, any trespass