Telangana High Court
Payam Satyanarayana vs State Of Telangana And 6 Others on 10 October, 2022
Author: P.Madhavi Devi
Bench: P.Madhavi Devi
THE HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE P.MADHAVI DEVI
W.P.No.29305 of 2022
ORDER:
This Writ Petition has been filed seeking a writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in not allowing the petitioner but allowing the non-tribals to exploit the sand quarry as illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional and consequently to direct the respondents to allot the sand quarry to the petitioner as per PESA (Panchayat Extension to Schedule Areas) Act, duly considering the representation of the petitioner dated 24.06.2022.
2. Brief facts leading to the filing of the present writ petition are that the petitioner is a tribal and 7th respondent is a society which has been allotted the sand extraction by the District Level Sand Committee that is respondent No.2. Thereafter, the petitioner was appointed as raising contractor to the 7th respondent society and has entered into an agreement in the year 2019. It is further stated that due to covid situation, the petitioner could not extract the sand and the time of two years have lapsed and the petitioner has not been able to recoup the money spent by him. He therefore made a representation to the 7th respondent to reimburse the money spent by him and stop all the quarry activities of the society till the issue is settled by the society. He also made a representation on 24.06.2022 to the 2nd respondent to take action against the society i.e., 7th respondent for engaging non-tribals for extraction of sand, to stop the quarry activity as it was against the PESA Act and also requested to reimburse the money that he has spent. When the same was not considered, the petitioner filed the present Writ Petition.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that without considering the request of the petitioner, the respondents have engaged a non-tribal for extraction of sand. Therefore, the petitioner has made a representation dated 24.06.2022 to the Collector-2nd respondent herein to take action under the Act.
4. Mr.Krishna Kishore Kovvuri, learned counsel representing the respondent No.7 submitted that the 7th respondent has been granted permission by the District Collector to extract the sand and the period for which they engaged a raising contractor has since lapsed.
5. Learned Government Pleader for Mines and Geology representing the respondents No.2 and 4 submitted that the dispute in this case is between the petitioner and the 7th respondent and the official respondents have got nothing to say in the matter. He submits that since there is no violation of any provision by the official respondents, the Writ Petition is not maintainable. He also submitted that it is purely a private dispute between the petitioner and 7th respondent.
6. Having regard to the rival contentions, material on record and particularly having gone through the representation of the petitioner dated 24.06.2022 which is made to the 2nd respondent, it appears that the petitioner is seeking reimbursement of the money spent by him for the extraction of sand during the period of engagement that is 2019-2021. Though he has made a reference to engagement of non- tribals by the 7th respondent for extraction of sand in violation of PESA Act, the prayer of the petitioner is only regarding the reimbursement of the money from the 7th respondent. Therefore, this is clearly a dispute between petitioner and the 7th respondent and the same cannot be adjudicated in the writ proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
7. The Writ Petition is accordingly dismissed. However, the petitioner is at liberty to make representation to the Collector, if he feels that any of the provisions of the PESA Act are being violated by the 7th respondent. There shall be no order as to costs.
Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall also stand closed.
_____________________________ JUSTICE P.MADHAVI DEVI Date: 10.10.2022 Prn 140 THE HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE P. MADHAVI DEVI WRIT PETITION No. 29305 of 2022 Date: 10.10.2022 Prn