Cuttack: Orissa high court has held that statutory authorities cannot “usurp power” not expressly conferred under law while staying an interim suspension order imposed on a sand quarry lessee in Khurda district.The ruling came while the HC granted interim relief to a petitioner who challenged a show-cause notice issued by the mining officer (minor mineral), Khurda, over alleged violations of the Odisha Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2016.“The authority cannot usurp the power to do a thing not provided in the statutory provision nor can it issue any directions without any conferment of power in the statute, the rules and/or regulations applicable in this regard,” a division bench comprising Harish Tandon and M S Raman observed on May 13. The dispute pertains to Kalyanpur sand quarry on the Kuakhai river under Bhubaneswar tehsil, for which the petitioner had obtained a five-year quarry permit in Dec 2025.The show-cause notice dated April 24, 2026, cited several alleged defaults by the lessee and asked why suspension or cancellation of the quarry permit should not be ordered.However, the notice also directed immediate suspension of quarrying and transportation activities as an interim measure.Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Sukanta Kumar Dalai argued that the 2016 rules did not empower authorities to debar or suspend quarry operations pending adjudication of the allegations.Examining sub-rules (15) and (16) of Rule 33 of the Rules, the bench found no statutory provision authorising interim suspension or debarment of quarry operations. Holding that a prima facie case had been made out, the court stayed the operation of the portion of the show-cause notice imposing interim suspension of quarrying and transportation activities until the next date of hearing.The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 14, 2026.
