Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

This respondent submitted detailed explanation contending inter alia that its application deserves consideration as the company has rich experience of about 45 years in Manganese Mining Operations; it has the technical know- how and also financial capacity to develop the mines and the company is earning huge foreign exchange to the Country. It has also submitted that it is entitled to preferential right over the writ petitioner as per Section 11(3) of MMDR Act. Further, referring to order in W.P.No.19861 of 2005, dated 15.11.2007, the 7th respondent pointed out that in respect of the areas which were earlier reserved and later de-notified, all applications filed even on different dates should be treated as filed on the same day and claims should be decided as per Section 11 of MMDR Act. However, the 3rd respondent on an erroneous consideration of the matter rejected the application of the 7th respondent. Challenging the same, it has filed the revision before the 1st respondent. After giving an opportunity to all the parties the 1st respondent has allowed the revision application by setting aside the orders of the State Government. The contention of the writ petitioner that principle 'first come first serve' should be observed is not tenable. Nobody has come forward in the ten years after issuance of de-notification by the Government. The order passed by the 1st respondent is just and legal and hence the writ petition is liable to be dismissed.

16. Then having regard to the nature of the controversy involved in this case, it is apposite at this juncture to look into the Section 11 as it stood prior to its amendment in the year 2015. For easy comprehension Section 11 is extracted below.

"11. Preferential right of certain persons:-

(1) Where a reconnaissance permit or prospecting licence has been granted in respect of any land, the permit holder or the licensee shall have a preferential right for obtaining a prospecting licence or mining lease, as the case may be, in respect of that land over any other person:

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), where the State Government has not notified in the Official Gazette the area for grant of reconnaissance permit or prospecting licence or mining lease, as the case may be, and two or more persons have applied for a reconnaissance permit, prospecting licence or a mining lease in respect of any land in such area, the applicant whose application was received earlier, shall have the preferential right to be considered for grant of reconnaissance permit, prospecting licence or mining lease, as the case may be, over the applicant whose application was received later:

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), but subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), the State Government may, for any special reasons to be recorded, grant a reconnaissance permit, prospecting licence or mining lease, as the case may be, to an applicant whose application was received later in preference to an applicant whose application was received earlier:

....."

17. In the context of evaluating the priorities of the applications, Section- 11 specifies three stages i.e., 11(1), 11(2) and 11(4) stages. Section 11(1) stage occurs when the land in which minerals which deposited is a virgin land in respect of which no notification was issued by the Government. At the stage where the reconnaissance permit or prospecting license has been granted in favour of an individual in respect of that land, the permit holder or the licensee shall have a preferential right for obtaining a prospecting license or mining lease as the case may be in respect of that land over any other person subject to the conditions enumerated in the proviso. The overriding character of the priority given to the prospecting licensee or reconnaissance permit holder is evident from the fact that each of the subsequent sub sections i.e., Sub Section 2 and Sub Section 4 of Section 11 are made subject to Section 11(1).