ORDER : S.M.SUBRAMANIAM, J. The writ on hand has been instituted seeking a direction to the respondents 1 to 6 to take immediate action against the respondents 7 to 28 and to prevent them from the illegal exploitation of the underground water resource for commercial purpose in Virudhunagar District and initiate criminal and civil proceedings against them including collecting fine and compensation from the respondents 7 to 28 and other similar mineral water companies in accordance with law within the time stipulated by this Court. 2. Exploitation of groundwater by private individuals and the necessity to regulate such extraction of groundwater by the Government to protect the public interest as well as the water resources beneath the earth have been elaborately considered by one of us (S.M.S., J.) in the case of Shanthi Aqua Farms and Ors. vs. The Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu and Ors. , reported in 2018 (4) MLJ(Crl) 658 . Pursuant to the said decision, the Government has also issued guidelines for regulating illegal extraction of groundwater by the private individuals for commercial purposes. It cannot be granted indiscriminately so as to affect the groundwater resources, which will have greater impact on the environmental ecology. Groundwater extraction for the commercial purposes must be regulated as per the Government guidelines, failing with, it will result in causing damages to the earth as well as the water resources beneath the earth. It is an important phenomenon to be taken into consideration. 3. Thus, the official respondents are directed to ensure that illegal groundwater extraction for commercial purposes is stopped forthwith and in the event of receiving any information regarding illegal groundwater extraction for commercial purpose, then such persons are to be prosecuted under the criminal law and under the relevant laws for violating the Government guidelines. 4. In the present case, large scale allegation of groundwater extraction has been raised. Hence, the official respondents are directed to conduct an inspection, wherever groundwater extractions are made for commercial purpose, verify the licences granted to them and initiate all appropriate actions, including criminal prosecution against the offenders, if any excess extraction of groundwater or otherwise is identified. 5. With the above direction, this writ petition is disposed of. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.