Short Note : 1. The only question before the Court is whether the Director of Geology should be directed to consider her application which was made on July 13, 1972, for grant of a fresh lease, or whether that application should not be considered. No. rule has been shown, either by the learned Government Advocate or by the learned counsel for respondent No.3, when an application can be made at the earliest. It is true that the petitioner herself had been granted a lease from July 29, 1967 to July 28, 1977 and she made an application five years in advance. The question is whether that application should not be considered merely because the petitioner worked the lease throughout the period for which it was granted earlier. In the opinion of this Court, this cannot come in her way. She made an application for stay and the appropriate Court granted stay and she worked the lease in accordance with the stay orders. This Court does not see any reason why the petitioner's application should not be considered by the Director of Geology on merits. It will be for him to consider the comparative merits and demerits. Petition allowed.