APHC010045312026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3504] THURSDAY,THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE MAHESWARA RAO KUNCHEAM WRIT PETITION NO: 2600/2026 Between: 1. M/S. SMT EXPORT, REP. BY ITS MANAGING PARTNER. VENKATA SHIVARAM REDDY NARALA AGED 50 YEARS, OCC. BUSINESS, D.NO.15-17-308A, PLOT NO.504, K.V.R.S RESIDENCY, BYPASS ROAD, NEAR RAJPATH FUNCTION HALL, KHAMMAM, TELANGANA -507002. ...PETITIONER AND 1. THE STATE OF AP, REP. BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, MINES AND GEOLOGY DEPARTMENT, VELAGAPUDI, AMARAVATI, ANDHRA PRADESH. 522238 2. THE DIRECTOR OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, IBRAHIMPATNAM, VIJAYAWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH 520001 3. THE DIVISIONAL MINES AND GEOLOGY OFFICER, TEKKALI, SRIKAKULAM DISTRICT. 532201 4. M/S MOUNTAIN VIEW GRANITES, SY.NO.100, KONGAVANIPALEM VILLAGE, BHOGAPURAM MANDAL VIZIANAGARAM DISTRICT AP 535216, REP. BY ITS MG. PARTNER SRI MANNAVA ANIL KUMAR. R4 IS IMPLEADED AS PER COURTS ORDER DT.17.02.2026 IN I.A.NO.2 OF 2026 ...RESPONDENT(S): Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased topleased to issue an order, writ or direction more particularly in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 2nd and 3rd respondents in not granting the quarry lease on the application of the 2 petitioner dated 26-07-2021 to Building Stone, Colour Granite, Morrum/Gravel, Ordinary Earth, Road Metal, Bllast, Rough Stone/Boulders to an extent of 4.900 Hectares in Sy.No.1 of Addukonda Village, Tekkali Mandal, Srikakulam District under A.P. Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966 even after all formalities are completed as mandated under rules to grant quarry lease as being arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional and contrary to Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the rules made there under apart from being of violation of Article 19 and 300-A of Constitutionof India. Counsel for the Petitioner: 1. K NAVEEN KUMAR Counsel for the Respondent(S): 1. G RAJA BABU 2. GP FOR MINES AND GEOLOGY The court made the following ORDER: The writ petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking the following main prayer: “…..declaring the action of the 2nd and 3rd respondents in not granting the quarry lease on the application of the petitioner dated 26-07-2021 to Building Stone, Colour Granite, Morrum/Gravel, Ordinary Earth, Road Metal, Bllast, Rough Stone/Boulders to an extent of 4.900 Hectares in Sy.No.1 of Addukonda Village, Tekkali Mandal, Srikakulam District under A.P. Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966 even after all formalities are completed as mandated under rules to grant quarry lease as being arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional and contrary to Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the rules made there under apart from being of violation of Article 19 and 300-A of Constitution of India…..” 2. The substratum of the writ petition is that the petitioner’s Form-P application dated 26.07.2021 for grant of quarry lease for quarrying building stone, colour granite, morrum/gravel, ordinary earth, road metal, blast, rough 3 stone/boulders in an extent of 4.900 hectares in Sy.No.1 of Addukonda Village, Tekkali Mandal, Srikakulam District., made before the 2nd respondent is pending and the respondent authorities are not acting upon the same. 3. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Assistant Government Pleader for Mines & Geology and Sri G. Raja Babu, learned counsel for the 4th respondent. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner, while reiterating the contentions made in the writ affidavit, submits that the petitioner's application made in terms of Rule 12 of A.P. Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966, for grant of quarry lease was not redressed by the respondent authorities till now though the respondent authorities statutory bound to dispose of them under the parameters prescribed in G.O.Ms.No.100 Industries & Commerce (Mines-II) Department dated 26.06.2025. Hence, he seeks appropriate directions of this Court. 5. Per contra, learned Government Pleader for Mines & Geology submits that the assertion of the petitioner is not completely true. However, he submits that the 2nd respondent authority issued Show-Cause-Notice dated 03.02.2026 to the petitioner, calling for an explanation why the quarry lease application dated 26.07.2021 should not be rejected, treating it as premature application in terms of Rule 12(3) (viii) of A.P. Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966. Learned Government Pleader further submits that till today, the petitioner has not submitted any explanation, though the Show-Cause-Notice was issued on 03.02.2026 and also states that if the petitioner submits 4 explanation, the same would be considered by the 2nd respondent, in accordance with Law. 6. Learned counsel for the 4th respondent submits that if any lease application is processed without hearing the 4th respondent, it may lead to multifarious problems and the LOI obtained by the 4th respondent from the mining authorities also would become redundant, which directly affects the right of the 4th respondent. 7. Apparently, respondent No.4-M/s. Mountain View Granites filed implead petition (I.A.No.2 of 2026) in the present writ petition and the said petition was allowed vide orders dated 17.02.2026, noting the submission that the Letter of Intent (LOI) in respect of the quarry lease for colour granite over an extent of 6.337 Hectors in Sy.No.01 of Addukonda Village, Tekkali Mandal, Srikakulam District., was issued by concerned mining authorities. In a nutshell, in the very same Sy.No.01 of Addukonda Village, the interest of respondent No.4 is also involved. 8. It is apposite to mention that the Government of Andhra Pradesh claims that after noting the ground realities to promote sustainable, responsible mineral developments and also by giving priority to environmental preservation and community welfare and further maximizing the economic benefits of mineral wealth brought Andhra Pradesh Minor Mineral Policy, 2025 vide G.O.Ms.No.57 Industries & Commerce (Mines-II) Department dated 18.04.2025. Thereafter, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, by amending A.P. Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966 so as to implement the A.P. Minor 5 Mineral Policy, 2025 effectively and comprehensively, notified G.O.Ms.No.100 Industries & Commerce (Mines-II) Department dated 26.06.2025. 9. In the above said Government Orders dated 26.06.2025, Rule 12 (2A) relates to the disposal of pending applications. For the sake of comprehensive view, it is relevant to extract Rule 12 (2-A) as under:- “12 (2-A) Disposal of Pending Applications i.……….... ii…………. iii. The deemed eligible applications under sub rule (i) shall be considered by Director or Deputy Director concerned, as the case may be, for grant of Quarry Lease subject to the applicant having first priority as on 13.03.2022, based on date of filing and other eligibility criteria and payment of one time of Annual Dead Rent as a security amount within a period of three months to the Head of Account prescribed by the Government from the date of issue of these rules. Provided that the applications which are rejected or withdrawn before 13.03.2022 and the applications, for which the application fee and security deposit not paid as per the prevailing rules on 13.03.2022 shall not be considered for grant. Provided further that all other applications not having the priority as per this rule shall be deemed ineligible.” 10. A plain reading of the above Government Orders crystal clear that, notwithstanding anything in the Rules, all the applications preferred seeking quarry lease pending as on 13.03.2022 shall become eligible to be considered by the competent authorities, subject to terms and conditions as detailed above. Thus, in view of the above statutory realm, it is a bounded duty that rests upon the respondent authorities to dispose of the same. 11. Considering the submissions made by all the counsel and also keeping in view the aforesaid G.O.Ms.No.100 Industries & Commerce (Mines-II) 6 Department dated 26.06.2025, the writ petition is disposed of, with the following directions:- i. The petitioner is hereby directed to submit his explanation to the Show-Cause-Notice dated 03.02.2026 issued by the 2nd respondent, within a period of two weeks, from the date of receipt of copy of this Order. ii. In such an event, the 2nd respondent shall pass appropriate orders in accordance with Law, after giving due notices to the petitioner as well as respondent No.4 and affording a reasonable opportunity, within a period of six (6) weeks, thereafter. There shall be no order as to costs. As a sequel, all pending applications shall stand closed. _______________________________ JUSTICE MAHESWARA RAO KUNCHEAM Date: 26.02.2026 GVK 7 122 THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE MAHESWARA RAO KUNCHEAM WRIT PETITION No.2600 of 2026 Date: 26.02.2026 GVK