Quarrying is not covered by the expression ‘commercial site’ and cannot be exempted from the applicability of Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963: SC
The question before the Supreme Court of India was whether a rocky land which is used for quarrying purposes can be treated as a ‘commercial site’ and thereby excluded from the applicability of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (the Act).The appellant had a land used for plantation. He requested environmental clearance for carrying out quarrying operations, which was recommended in his...
The question before the Supreme Court of India was whether a rocky land which is used for quarrying purposes can be treated as a ‘commercial site’ and thereby excluded from the applicability of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (the Act).
The appellant had a land used for plantation. He requested environmental clearance for carrying out quarrying operations, which was recommended in his favour by the District Expert Appraisal Committee (DEAC) which in 2017. Aggrieved by the said recommendation to permit quarry, the respondents objected the permission to use the land for quarrying operations and therefore filed a Writ Petition with the High Court of Kerala.
A Full Bench of the Kerala High Court comprising three Judges. The majority opinion was in favour of the respondents. It was held by the majority that the land which is used for quarrying is not covered by the expression ‘commercial site’ and therefore, there can be no exemption of such land from the applicability of the Act.
Aggrieved by the decision, the appellant filed a Special Leave Petition with the Supreme Court of India. The appellant contended that the definition of ‘commercial site’ is very wide and any land which is principally used for the purpose of trade, commerce, industry, manufacture or business is a commercial site. The appellant also contended that breaking of rock is a manufacturing activity. Quarrying operations involve digging land and breaking of rocks into metal pieces. It was submitted that digging of land and breaking of rock is for a commercial activity and the sale of stones is for the purpose of trade and business.
The Supreme Court disagreed with such contention and held that there is a definite distinction between the expressions ‘lands’ and ‘sites’ in the context in which they have been used. Commercial sites read along with the other clauses dealing with sites clearly indicate that land occupied by structures is described as ‘site’. It further ruled that, the expression ‘commercial site’ cannot take into its fold vacant lands, including lands used for the purpose of quarrying. It has a restrictive meaning in comparison to the other categories of ‘land’ in Section 81 of the Act. Therefore, quarry cannot fit into the terms ‘commercial site’.
The Supreme Court observed that if quarries are commercial sites, the need for their exemption in public interest does not arise. Section 81(3) of the Act empowers the Government to exempt lands for commercial purposes in public interest. Moreover, the interpretation of Section 81 of the Act which exempts certain lands and sites should be interpreted in a manner, which promotes the object of the Act and restricts concentration of large swathes of land in favour of a few individuals. Wider construction of the words ‘commercial site’ would defeat the laudable object of the Act.
A Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Hemant Gupta upheld the decision of the Kerala High Court and ruled that quarrying is not covered by the expression ‘commercial site’ and cannot be exempted from the applicability of Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963.