Section 29 in West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953
29. Subsisting leases of mines or minerals.
(1) All leases of mines and minerals in a notified area granted by an intermediary and subsisting immediately before the date of vesting shall, with effect from such date, be deemed to have been granted by the State Government to the holder of the said subsisting lease on the same terms and conditions as of the subsisting lease [, so, however, that(ai)rights in hats and bazars not in the Khas possession of the holder of the lease and lands comprising forests, if any, shall be excluded from such lease;][Substituted by Section 15(1), ibid for the words with the additional condition.](i)in cases where the holder of the lease had not in the opinion of the State Government done any prospecting or development work before the date of vesting,that he shall be allowed one year's time from the date of vesting, to begin prospecting or development work, and [if, in the opinion of the State Government, he has failed to do so] [Substituted by Section 15(2), ibid for the words if he fails to do so.] the State Government shall be entitled to terminate the lease at any time after the expiry of such period by giving three months' notice in writing, unless sufficient cause is shown to the satisfaction of the State Government,(ii)in other cases,that if the holder of the lease has developed or done any prospecting work in respect of any part of the land included in the lease but has, in the opinion of the State Government, failed to do any prospecting or development work within three years from the date of vesting in respect of the remaining part of the land included in the lease, the State Government shall be entitled to resume the whole or any portion of such remaining part of the land together with the minerals lying thereunder, after giving three months' notice in writing, but in so resuming, the State Government shall have regard to the reasons for such failure and to the requirements, as appear to it to be reasonable, for the future development of the mining concern of the lease :Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall prevent any modifications being made in the terms and conditions of the said lease consistent with the provisions of any Central Act for the time being in force regulating the modifications of existing mining leases.(2)Where in pursuance of additional conditions mentioned in sub-section (1), any lease of mines and minerals is terminated by the State Government under clause (t) of sub-section (1) or any land is resumed by the State Government under clause (h) of that sub-section, the lessee shall be entitled to compensation calculated in accordance with the principles laid down in section 32, as far as they are applicable, together with an amount not exceeding what has been expended by the lessee in works or operations connected with such lease or such resumed land included in the lease, less the value of any assets used or employed by him in such connection taken away by him.
