Kerala Quarry Operators Withdraw Petition Filed In Supreme Court For Mining In Lands Assigned For Cultivation

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain petitions challenging the Kerala High Court's judgment dated May 25, 2022, which held that quarrying was not permissible in lands assigned for cultivation as per the provisions of the Kerala Land Assignment Act.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol however permitted the petitioners to withdraw the petition with liberty to pursue the remedy of review before the High Court.

The bench orally observed that when lands are assigned for a specific purposes, they cannot be utilized for other purposes like quarrying.

The petitioners before the Supreme Court were purchasers of the assigned lands from the original assignees and had applied for quarrying lease under the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2015. They contended that when a mining lease has been issued as per the KMMC Rules, the Tahsildar cannot issue a stop memo against quarrying. The patta issued under the Land Assignment Rules specifies that the minerals in the assigned land belongs to the Government. Therefore, when the Government later issues a mining lease in the patta land, the quarrying cannot be regarded as illegal.

However, the Court pointed out that there is a clause that the lands assigned for a specific purpose cannot be diverted. Following this, the petitioners chose to withdraw the petition to file review petition before the High Court.

Senior Advocate V Giri, Advocates EMS Anam, MKS Menon appeared for some of the petitioners. Standing Counsel CK Sasi appeared for the State Government. Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for intervenors who were opposing quarrying.

Case Title : M/s Poabs Granites Products Pvt Ltd vs State of Kerala SLP(c) 12978/2022