HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE VILAS V. AFZULPURKAR WRIT PETITION No.6602 OF 2013 Date:09.12.2014 Between:
T. Anjaneyulu .. Petitioner And The Director of Mines and Geology, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad and others .. Respondents HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE VILAS V. AFZULPURKAR WRIT PETITION No.6602 OF 2013 ORDER:
The petitioner is a Contractor, whose tender was accepted for execution of CPWS Scheme in Guntur Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Division. The name of the work executed by the petitioner was described as ‘Augmentation of CPWS Scheme’ in Tadikonda, Thulluru, Medikonduru and Phirangipuram Mandals in Tadikonda Constitutency at an estimated cost of Rs.700.00 lakhs. During the execution of the said work, cut and refill Earth in laying pipelines are subjected to the demand for seigneorage fee by the Executive Engineer in terms of the Andhra Pradesh Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966. Under the impugned order, dated 31.01.2013, recovery of the seigneorage fee from the petitioner’s bill was ordered.
An identical issue came up before this Court in W.P.No.3813 of 2012 and batch. In the said judgment, this Court held that the petitioners have not supplied or sold the mineral or earth recovered in the process of digging the foundations and as such in the absence of such and allegation against the petitioner, mere resultant gravel or soil cannot be subject matter of the seigniorage fee when the petitioner is only executing the project of laying pipes and in that process gravel or earth came to be removed. The said judgment is stated to have attained finality in issue. The issue raised in the present Writ Petition is already adjudicated by this Court in above referred writ petitions. As such, this Writ Petition also deserves to be allowed in the same manner.
Accordingly, the Writ Petition is allowed. There shall be no order as to costs.
Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in this Writ Petition shall stand closed.
VILAS V. AFZULPURKAR, J
09.12.2014 KH