' Through this petition under Article 199 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 Niaz Ali, through his Special Attorney Zafar Iqbal, has made a grouse against the alleged failure on the part of respondent-Secretary (Industries), Government of the Punjab, without impleading others in the department, including the officials working at Shahkot, District Sheikhupura. His case is that he was a successful bidder in the auction held in relation to the minor-mineral i,e,, excavation of ordinary rock on an area measuring 449 acres near Sangla Hill, Tehsil and District Sheikhupura against his bid of Rs,20,000 for a period of one year to end on 31-12-1981. He executed Special Power-of-Attorney in favour of Zafar lqbal on 25-11-1993 authorizing him to control his excavation- process on the spot, to prosecute litigation on his behalf in all Courts including the initiation of proceedings in the nature of writ/s under Article 199 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, make the deposit of the amount in the treasury and to do all other acts necessary for the performance of the functions/duties cast upon him vide 'Special Attorney' dated 25-11-1993, copy whereof is available as an annex to this petition. He has made the following prayer in this petition: "Under the circumstances it is most respectfully prayed that the writ petition be accepted and the respondent be directed not to interfere in the excavation work being carried out by the petitioner."
2. A perusal of the petition shows that the case of the petitioner is that right in the initial stages of the subject matter of the auction dated 26-2-1980, there were insurmountable difficulties in his way to excavate the ordinary rock and he was allowed to remove the stones for a while "but later on when he started the work the local police refused to allow the petitioner to remove the stones".
When the attention of the learned counsel was drawn to the intervening time, i,e,, more than 13 years and he was asked to indicate what efforts were made by the petitioner in the matter of removal of that quantity of stones which has been excavated, as alleged on his behalf by the learned counsel in Court today, he was content with submitting that he will be satisfied if a direction to that limited exempt is issued to the appropriate-authorities. He was also questioned whether a demand for justice made by the petitioner in the past or not and his reply was that only intermittent oral requests were made to the local-management/officials but a written request in that behalf was not made by either the petitioner up to 25-11-1993, i,e,, the date on which he constituted Zafar Iqbal son of Hassan Ali as his Special Attorney or even thereafter, by the Special Attorney himself. I am not inclined to the view that without making demand for justice from the respondent- authorities available grounds for permission to remove the stones, said to have been excavated by the petitioner subsequent to the auction dated 26-2-1980, the instant petition is maintainable,
3. Confronted with the above, learned counsel sought the disposal of this petition at this juncture with the observation that if he were to make an approach to the concerned quarters for permission to remove the allege quantity of excavated stones/mineral, the same shall be disposed of by them in accordance with law. The request seems to be genuine and the same is allowed. Resultantly, this petition is disposed of with the observation that the respondent authorities shall dispose of the application of the petitioner, if filed, within 2 months of its submission, in accordance with law. A copy of this order shall be sent to the Secretary (Industries), Government of Punjab, separately.