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During his mining operations which are admittedly now being carried on in about five acres only Respondent No. 1 came across two other minerals namely felspar and quartz which are commonly known to be associated minerals of mica. Under the conditions of the lease the lessee had to report to the State Government the discovery in the leased area of any mineral not specified in the lease within sixty days of such discovery and if any mineral not specified in the lease was so discovered in the leased area he could not win and dispose of such mineral unless such mineral was included in the lease or a separate lease was obtained therefor. Accordingly, on discovery of felspar and quartz in the area where the mining operations were being carried on for mica, Respondent No. I applied to the State Government to include the said minerals also in the lease executed on April 25, 1966, so that he could win and dispose of these minerals also. On the State Government agreeing to do so, a Dead of Incorporation dated April 6, 1983 was duly executed by the parties to the original lease. By the said Deed, felspar and quartz were included in the original lease as minerals which the lessee could win and carry away after paying the required royalty from the area over which he had been granted lease for mining mica. All other conditions of the lease including the period of lease remained the same. In fact it was not a new mining lease for a fresh period. The lease is to exp re on April 24, 1986 as originally stipulated.

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(ii) that any forest land or any portion thereof may be used for any non-forest purpose.

Explanation-For the purpose of this section 'non forest purpose' means breaking up or clearing of any forest land or portion thereof for any purpose other than reafforestation."

It would appear that after the coming into force of the Act the Government of India (Ministry of Agriculture) wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bihar drawing his attention to the provisions of the Act, and the prohibitions contained therein. Perhaps, as a result of the said letter the Divisional Forest Officer, Kodarma Forest Division, Kodarma, within whose jurisdiction the mining area of Respondent No. 1 was situated, wrote to Respondent No. I on August 8, 1983 stating that the mining area was situated within the reserved forest area and that since previous approval of the Central Government had not been obtained for inclusion of felspar and quartz in the mining lease as required by the Act, Respondent No. 1 could not be permitted to win felspar and quartz, even though the Deed of Incorporation had been executed.

Aggrieved by the said letter of the Divisional Forest Officer, Respondent No. I filed a writ petition on the file of the High Court of Patna (Ranchi Bench) contending that the provisions of the Act were not applicable to a case where the lease had been entered into prior to the coming into force of the Act and that there was no need to break up or clear any forest land other than the area where mining operations were being carried on. The High Court after hearing the parties allowed the writ petition holding that the Act had no application to the instant case and he could win and take away felspar and quartz from the mining area. But it however made clear that if for winning felspar and quartz the lessee was required to break up or clear any forest land other than the area required for mining to win mica, he could not do so without obtaining the previous approval of the Central Government under the Act.

The relevant parts of section 2 of the Act which have to be construed for purposes of this case are clause (ii) of and the Explanation to that section. Clause (ii) of section 2 of the Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force in a State, no State Government or other authority shall make, except with the prior approval of the Central Government, any order directing that any forest land or any portion thereof - may be used for any non-forest purpose. Explanation to section 2 of the Act defines "non-forest purpose" as breaking up or clearing of any forest land or portion thereof for any purpose other than reafforestation. Reading them together, these two parts of the section mean that after the commencement of the Act no fresh breaking up of the forest land or no fresh clearing of the forest on any such land can be permitted by any State Government or any authority without the prior approval of the Central Government. But if such permission has been accorded before the coming into force of the Act and the forest land is broken up or cleared then obviously the section cannot apply. In the instant case it is not disputed that in an area of five acres out of eighty acres covered by the mining lease the forest land had been dug up and mining operations were being carried on even prior to the coming into force of the Act. If the State Government permits the lessee by the amendment of the lease deed to win and remove felspar and quartz also in addition to mica it cannot be said that the State Government has violated section 2 of the Act because thereby no permission for fresh breaking up of forest land is being given. The result of taking the contrary view will be that while the digging for purposes of winning mica can go on, the lessee would be deprived of collecting felspar or quartz which he may come across while he is carrying on mining operations for winning mica. That would lead to an unreasonable result which would not in anyway A subserve the object of the Act. We are, therefore, of the view that while before granting permission to start mining operations on a virgin area section 2 of the Act has to be complied with it is not necessary to seek the prior approval of the Central Government for purposes of carrying out mining operations in a forest area which is broken up or cleared before the commencement of the Act. The learned counsel for Respondent No. 1 has also given an undertaking the Respondent No. 1 would confine his mining operations only to the extent of five acres of land on which mining operations have already been carried out and will not fell or remove any standing trees thereon without the prior permission in writing from the Central Government. Taking into consideration all the relevant matters, we are of the view that Respondent No. I is entitled to carry on mining operations in the said five acres of land for purposes of removing felspar and quartz subject to the above conditions.