In a judgment of far-reaching consequences, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that grama panchayats should process applications for D and O (dangerous and offensive trade) licence for quarrying operations without insisting on environmental clearance.
The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice Anu Sivaraman passed the verdict while dismissing an appeal filed by a panchayat against a single judge’s interim directive to process applications from quarry owners without insisting on environmental clearance. The appeal was filed by the Nagaroor grama panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram.
According to the panchayat, the Single Judge did not consider the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Deepak Kumar case, in which the apex court had ruled that leases of minor mineral, including their renewal for an area less than five hectares, could be granted by the State/Union Territories only after getting environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
A Division Bench headed by the then Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan had held that it was mandatory to obtain eco clearance of mining lease for an area less than five hectares of land in view of the direction of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) read with the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Deepak Kumar case.
Writ plea
The single judge’s interim order asking the panchayat to process the applications came on a writ petition filed by some quarry owners from the panchayat. According to them, the petitioners had filed an application seeking to renew the permit under the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules.
High Court orders that local bodies need not insist on environmental clearance
