Writ Petition No. 2619 of 2021 — MAHADEVAN, J.           The petitioner herein was given lease for stone quarry on 13.01.2016 for a period of five years in respect of his patta land —–The District Collector, Thiruppur is further directed to initiate criminal action against those who operated the 64 un-licenced quarries as well as those who are instrumental in allowing such un-licenced quarries to operate such as Village Administrative Officer/Tahsildar/Revenue Divisional Officer/District Revenue Officer and other officials concerned, besides initiating appropriate proceedings to recover the loss caused to the exchequer due to such illegal stone quarrying

Writ Petition No. 2619 of 2021

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1. MAHADEVAN, J.

 

The petitioner herein was given lease for stone quarry on 13.01.2016 for a period of five years in respect of his patta land measuring an extent of 1.09.0 hectare situated in Survey Nos. 96/1B and 96/2B, Morattupalayam Village, Uthukuli Taluk, Tiruppur District.  According to the petitioner, during the subsistence of lease period, the District Collector, Thirupur passed the order dated 25.01.2021 cancelling the stone quarry lease issued to him for alleged violation of the conditions of the lease. Challenging the order dated 25.01.2021, the petitioner has come up with this writ petition.

 

2. When the writ petition was taken up for hearing on 03.08.2021, it was brought to the notice of this Court by the counsel for the petitioner that several stone quarries have been operating in the area without license and following the conditions of lease, however, the petitioner alone was discriminated.  In the light of such submission of the counsel for the petitioner, this Court thought it fit to undertake a comprehensive survey of all the stone quarries operating in the said area and to bring to book the violation, if any.  For such purpose, this Court appointed Mr. V. Ashok Kumar, Advocate as an Advocate Commissioner to inspect all the stone quarries operating in the area concerned with the help of the officials, after issuing due notice to all the parties.

 

3. Accordingly, the Advocate Commissioner appointed by this Court has inspected the quarries in Uthukuli Taluk on 09.08.2021, 10.08.2021, 14.08.2021 and 15.08.2021, based on which he has filed a comprehensive report dated 17.08.2021.  The report contains shocking revelations about the illegal stone quarries being operated in the area and they have illegally been permitted by the authorities all these years.  As per the report of the Advocate Commissioner, there are 64 stone Quarries which are being operated without any licence or lease.  Further, the report unfolds that out of the 24 licenced quarries, 18 quarries were inspected and all the lease holders have violated the conditions of lease in one way or the other and indulged in quarrying the land beyond the permissible limits.  The Advocate Commissioner has also enclosed photographs of licensed and non-licensed quarries to show the nature and extent of violations perpetrated by the stone quarry operators.  The advocate commissioner has also stated in his report that he found two lorries running in the very same registration Number viz., TN 55 Z 7753.  Thus, the report of the advocate commissioner had blown the lid off as to how stone quarrying is being operated without even any licence or lease and thereby causing loss of thousands of crores of rupees to the exchequer besides environmental loss to the State.  The report also reveals the apathy of the administration in not causing any inspection, much less periodical inspection, of the quarrying activities in the area, which had embolden the violators to indulge in quarrying activities without any lease or licence. The report of the Advocate Commissioner had pointed out the violations committed by the licenced stone quarry owners as well as the non-licenced stone quarry owners.  Useful reference can be made to the report of the Advocate Commissioner hereunder:-

“REPORT ON QUARRIES WITH LICENSE

(Inspected on 9th and 10th of August 2021)

S.No.	Name of Land owner	S/F No.	Remarks
1	Kulanthai Venkatesh	130/2	nearby Railway Track.  Presently in fresh operation. Depth of the quarry is very extensive.  No workers were present.
2	Raasappan	139/2 & 140/2	Live work is taking place.  More than 3 workers were present.  License is yet to expire in one month.  Adjacent to public road, which is in regular usage.  License for explosives used was not produced
3	Vijayakumar	154/1A	No workers were present during inspeciton. Tread marks were visible. Adjacent non licensed quarry was functioning and the parameter of maintaining 7.5 meters distance from the marked boundaries has not been followed. Application pending before SEIAA
4	P. Krishnaswamy	209/1A and 209/1B2	License is yet to expire in 1 month.  No workers were present during inspection. Quarry was in fresh operation.
5	Rajasekar	382/2A	License is valid till 2023 according to records.  All parameters were followed
6	A.A. Kumaresan	377/1	License is yet to expire in 1 month. Depth of quarry is very extensive.  License for using explosive and amount of explosives used on regular basis not disclosed
7	Ayyadurai	392 (p) 3.52 Ha	Parameter of maintaining 7.5 meters distance between two adjacent quarries has not been followed
8.	Ayyadurai	392 (p) 2.25 Ha	Parameter of maintaining 7.5 Meters distance between two adjacent quarries has not been followed
9.	T.S. Uthayakumar	388 (p) T (A)	Poromboke lands.  Quarry is in fresh operation.  Depth of quarry is very extensive.  Following parameter of 7.5 Meters distance adjacent quarry
10.	S. Raju	388 (P) (B) T (B)	Poromboke lands. Quarry is in fresh operation.  Depth of quarry is very extensive.  Following parameter of 7.5 Meters distance between adjacent quarry
11.	M. Nalayini	397/1 1.52 Ha	Quarry is not in operation
12.	Karrupuswamy	383/12A2A1	Quarry licensed upto 20.09.2021.  Depth of quarry is very extensive.  Fine has been imposed already for extensive quarrying.

Reports on Quarries without license

(Inspected on 09th and 10th of Aug 2021)

S.No.	Name of Land owner	S/F No.	Remarks
1.	T. Sumathi, Wife of T. Thangaraj   T. Thangaraj	383/2A2B   383/2A2A2	License expired.  Applied before SIEAA in the name of T. Thangaraj   Quarrying had been currently non-operative.   Combined land maintaining only 4.6 meters between both the quarried land whereas 7.5 meters distance has to be maintained between two lands engaged in quarrying.   Application pending before SEIAA

 

 

S.No.	Name of Land owner	S/F No.	Remarks
2.	M. Thangaraj	383/2B2	Adjacent land to 383/2A2B, not maintaining 7.5 Meters between adjacent lands. Application pending before SEIAA
3.	Palaniswamy	385/2 (2.8 Acres)	Depth of quarried arena seems to be very extensive.   Still in operation as tread marks are highly visible.
4.	M.R. Vishwanathan	96/1B 96/2B	License expired after cancellation (challenged in WP No. 2619/2021).  Contentions raised by respondent No.4 over ruled as distance measured from Railway Track Stone and Boundaries of Quarrying land is more than 50 Meters.
5.	Loganathan	95.2	Within 50 meters from the Railway track
6.   7.   8.   9.	Govindaraj   Vishwanath   Palanivel   Sakthivel	97/1A	All four quarries are registered in same survey number.   50 Cents are used for quarrying, additionally, 5 cents have been included without any authorisation   Seems that quarrying taken place within 1 month
10.	Senthilkumar	97/1A	Adjacent Quarry-presently non-operative
11.	M.R. Boopathi	127/2B2	Totally 3 Acres 28.5 Cents are occupied. 2.10 acres are engaged in operation.  Quarry was operative, no workers were present.  Tread marks were highly visible.  Licensed for 2 periods, expired and applied before SIEAA
12.	Rangaswamy	127/2B1B (p) 3.10 acres	Quarry is operative, but no workers were present. Fresh cut stones. Inventory reveals extensive work has been lately taken place
13	Govindharaj Koteeswaran Sridharan Nandheeswaran	125/1B   3.80.65 Ha	The quarry has never been under the scope of license The owners of the quarry have never applied for license Majority of the quarry is in operation.
S.No.	Name of Land owner	S/F No.	Remarks
14	Thambaraj	125/1B	Quarry is in fresh operation
15	Subramani	125/2C 72.03 Ha	Quarry is in operation.  No workers were present during inspection. Transformer situated perpendicular to boundary at left corner without maintaining even 1 meter distance in between
16	K. Thangaraj (transferred from his father Kandasamy)	124/3A 91.20 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation Tread marks visible Depth is very extensive beyond 100 feet Application pending before SEIAA
17	Jayabal	124/4 94.50 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
18	Marimuthu S/o. Nanjappa Naicker	140/3A 60 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
19	Sathish Thirumalai Manickam Shanmugam	139/1   1.52 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation Freshly used inventories were found very nearby to Transformer Small shed has been built near corner of bund
20	Kanagaraj Ramesh	138/4 53.5 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation Many freshly used inventories were found Workers were present in crushing arena
21	T.N. Thangaraj	155/2 1.62 Ha	License expired recently Fresh operation has been carried out Application pending before SEIAA
22	Thangamuthu	155/1B 0.61 Ha	Obstructions misleading and not allowing to enter the quarry premises were made by filling the entrance with thorn branches, heaps of waste and sand. Quarry is in fresh operation Tread marks of recent work was visible.
23	Easwaran	160/2 1.74 Ha	License expired recently Fresh operation of quarry was taken place Application pending before SEIAA
24	Subramani Padmanaban	156/1 Subdivided 156/2A1	Parameter of 7.5 Meter distance between two adjacent quarries was not maintained Fresh work has been carried on regularly

 

S.No.	Name of land owner	S/F No.	Remarks
25	Rajkumar	154/3U	Small Quarry Excavation made for grinder stones Inventories and fresh cut grinder stones were found
26	Subramani	154/3J 10 Cents	Small quarry Excavation made for grinder stones Inventories and fresh cut grinder stones were found
27	Subramani	154/3I 3 Cents	Small quarry Excavation made for grinder stones Inventories and fresh cut grinder stones were found
28	Anandraj	102/2	Patta land Adjacent to another quarry in same survey number. Seems to be abandoned, but slight tread marks are available without entry or exit for a big vehicle Parameter of 7.5 Meter has not been maintained
29	Vigneshwaran	102/2	Patta land Adjacent to another quarry in same survey number Seems to be abandoned, but slight tread marks are available without entry or exit for a big vehicle Parameter of 7.5 Meter has not been maintained
30	Janakiraman	112/2	Carrying out fresh work Inventories as cutting machines, motors etc., were found Fresh cut stone was found near crushing area No workers were found at present Adjacently transformer was fixed which was very nearby to bund
31	Chinnaswamy	112/2	Fresh cut stones were found Partly abandoned/Partly in operation
32	Thangamuthusamy	382	Adjacent to Ayyadurai’s land Parameter of 7.5 Meters between both quarries has not been maintained Officials informed that the quarrying took place prior to recent lockdown.No proper access to enter the quarry as obstructions were made.
S.No.	Name of Land owner	S/F No.	Remarks
33	Prabhakar	389/1C	Presently non-operating
34	M. Thangaraj	389/1B23	Presently non-operating Application pending before SEIAA
35	Devaraj	382	Presently non-operating
36	M. Nalayini	383/2B	Quarry is in fresh operation
37	Janaki	189/190	Quarry was in fresh operation Application pending before SEIAA
38	S. Raju	387/1B1	Quarry is not in operation Depth of quarry is very extensive Enormous water logging Application is pending with SEIAA
39	S. Raju	389/1B1	Quarry is not in operation Depth of Quarry is very extensive Enormous water logging

 

REPORT ON QUARRIES WITH LICENSE

(Inspected on 14th & 15th August 2021

 

S.No.	Name of Land owner	S/F No.	Remarks
1	P.K. Subramaniam	376/1 2.02.5 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
2	Rajamanickam	66/2 0.79.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
3	Palraj	118/1 1.87.5 Ha	Near to public Village road.  Not maintaining even 10 meters distance between boundary of quarry and road.  No fencing has been made
4	Ponnusamy	30/2 1.59.0 Ha 223/1 0.89.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
5	Manickamoorthy	223/1A 1.35.0 Ha 223/1 0.89.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
6	Ponnudurai	156/2 1.50.5 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation

 

REPORT ON QUARRIES WITHOUT LICENSE

(Inspected on 14th & 15th August, 2021)

 

S.No.	Name of Land owner	S/F No.	Remarks
1	Prakash	66/3 0.81.0 Ha	Quarry is presently non-operative Application is pending before SEIAA
2	Palaniswamy	125/1 1.25.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation. Within 100 meters of livelihood/habitation.  No fencing has been made.  Depth of quarry seems to be very extensive
3	Ranga Naicker and others	134/3 0.28.5 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
4	Mara Naicker	134/4 0.30.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
5	Nanja Naicker	135/1C 0.41.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
6	Thangavel Venkatesan	135/1D 0.32.5 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation. Two Quarries are operating in same Survey Number with Mr. Venkatesan which is also in fresh operation.
7	Muthusamy	135/2 1.00.00 Ha	Quarry is not in operation
8	Chinnaswamy Duraiswamy Rathinaswamy	134/14B 0.47.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
9	Palanisamy Murugesan Muthu Thangaraj Thirumanairaj	134/12A 0.33.5 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
10	Palanisamy	134/11 0.20.5 Ha 134/1 0.53.5 Ha 134/9 0.50.5 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation   Non-operative, Quarrying stayed   Non-operative, Quarrying stayed

 

 

11.	Natarajan Ravi	36/2 3.18.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
12	Rajamanickam Raju	37/1B 0.53.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation
13	R. Chitra	367/2A 1.66.0 Ha	Quarry is presently non-operative Application is pending before SEIAA
14	Dharmaselvam	396/2A 397/2A 2.25.0 Ha	Quarry is presently non operative Application is pending before SEIAA
15	Vasantha Kumar	178/1A 1.25.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation pertaining to 25 Cents
16	Manivasagam	178/1A 1.25.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation pertaining to 25 Cents
17	Ravi	178/1A 1.25.0 Ha	Quarry is in fresh operation pertaining to 25 cents
18	Usha Devi     Raja Manickam   Prakash	84/1A & 1B 0.57.0 Ha 0.20.0 Ha 84/2 0.68.0 Ha 84/3 0.68.0 Ha	Qll quarries in the reference Survey Number have been abandoned and they are non-operating quarries
19	Jagadeesh   Vijayakumar   Rukmani	89/1 1.68.0 Ha 86/3B 0.18.5 Ha 86/4B 0.12.5 Ha	Fine has been imposed on all the quarries in the respective Survey Numbers   Quarry is non-operating
20	P.S. Palanisamy	220/2 3.10.0 Ha	Quarry is non-operative License was cancelled as the general Public opposed as a primary school is functioning within 250 Meters
21	Chandrasekar	224/1 2.77.0 Ha	Quarry is Non-operating
22	Ramaswamy	207/3A 0.51.0 Ha	Quarry is Non-operating

 

 

 

23	K. Sundaravel	156/1 2.6.50 Ha	Fresh Cut stones were found Quarry is in fresh operation Tread marks were visible Application pending before SEIAA as the license expired during March 2021
24	Ponnudurai	150/3 1.42.0 Ha	Government Poromboke land heavy water logging Application pending before SEIAA
25	M. Vijayakumar	154/1A (p) 0.97.5 Ha	Quarry is non-operative Application is pending before SEIAA

 

4.       Taking note of the magnitude of the violations of stone quarrying lease, as pointed out by the Advocate Commissioner, mentioned above, this Court is passing the following orders:-

(i)      The District Collector, Thiruppur is directed to forthwith close all the 64 un-licenced quarries pointed out by the Advocate Commissioner in his report, as mentioned above and to ensure that no further quarrying takes place in those sites.

(ii)     The District Collector, Thiruppur is further directed to initiate criminal action against those who operated the 64 un-licenced quarries as well as those who are instrumental in allowing such un-licenced quarries to operate such as Village Administrative Officer/Tahsildar/Revenue Divisional Officer/District Revenue Officer and other officials concerned, besides initiating appropriate proceedings to recover the loss caused to the exchequer due to such illegal stone quarrying

(iii)    The District Collector, Thiruppur is also directed to issue show cause notice (s) to the licenced stone quarry operators for the violations pointed out by the Advocate Commissioner and to proceed further in accordance with law.

(iv)    The Regional Transport Officer of the District is directed to seize all the vehicles having same registration number, particularly, the vehicle bearing Registration No. TN 55 Z 7753 and to initiate proceedings for confiscation of the vehicle (s).

(v)      The District Collector, Thiruppur is directed to file a compliance report before this Court on or before 06.09.2021.            Post this Writ Petition for further hearing on 07.09.2021.

 

31.08.2021

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Note : Issue copy of the order today

 

1. MAHADEVAN, J

 

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WP No.2619 of 2021

 

 

31.08.2021