Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil 'Appeal Nos. 612 & 613 of 1974.

Appeals by special leave from the judgment and order dated the 5th May, 1973 and 27th February, 1974 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Misc. Petns. Nos. 552/72 and Misc. Petn. No. 675 of 1973 respectively.

T. S. Krishnamurthy, P. V. Lale and S. S. Khanduja and Sushil Kumar,for the appellant (In C.A. No. 612-13/74). I. N. Shroff, for respondents Nos. 1-3 (In C.A. No. 612/74) and respondents Nos. 1-4 & 6 (In C.A. No. 613/74). R.S. Dabir , V. S. Dabir, N. M. Ghatate and S. Balakrishnan, for respondent No. 5 (In both the appeals). R. N. Sachthey, for respondent No. 4 (in C.A. No. 612/74.). The Judgment of the Court was delivered by BHAGWATI, J.-The Mines & Minerals (Regulation & Development) Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) divides minerals into two classes, namely, minor minerals and minerals other than minor minerals, which may, for the sake of brevity, be referred to as major minerals. The Act itself makes provisions in sections 4 to 13 for regulating the grant of prospecting licenses and mining leases in respect of major minerals but so far as minor minerals are concerned, grant of prospecting licenses and mining leases is left to be governed by rules to be made by the State Government under section 15. The Madhya Pradesh Government, in exercise of the power conferred under section 15, made the Madhya Pradesh Minor Minerals Rules, 1961 for regulating the-grant of quarry lease in respect of minor minerals and for purposes connected therewith. These rules are ex hypothesi applicable only in relation to grant of quarry lease in respect of minor minerals. "Minor minerals" are defined in section 3 (e) to. mean building stores, gravel, ordinary clay, ordinary sand other than sand used for prescribed purposes, and any other mineral which the Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be a minor mineral. The Central Government, in exercise of the power conferred under section 3(e), issued a notification dated 1st June, 1958 declaring inter alia "limestones used for lime burning" to be a minor mineral. This notification was subsequently amended by the Central Government by a further notification dated 20th September, 1961 and the words "limestone used in kilns for manufacture of lime used as building material" were substituted for the words "limestone used for lime burning". The result was that with effect from 20th September, 1961 only limestone used in kiln for manufacture of lime used for building material remained a minor mineral while limestone used for burning for manufacture of lime for other purposes ceased to be a minor mineral and became a major mineral. The appellant was a lessee under a quarry lease of 25.32 acres of land situate in village Badari, Tehsil Kurwara, District Jabalpur granted to her by the State Government for quarrying "limestone for burning" for a period of five years from 21st June, 1961 to 20th June, 1966. This quarry lease was granted under the Madhya Pradesh Minor Minerals Rules, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) and it was in Form V annexed to the Rules and contained clause (15) giving an option of renewal to the appellant for a further term of five years. Before the period of the quarry lease was due to expire, the appellant applied for renewal in accordance with the provisions of the Rules and in the application for renewal against column 6 of paragraph 3 the appellant described the mineral which she intended to mine as "limestone for burning". This application for renewal was not disposed of by the State Government before the expiry of the quarry lease and it was, therefore, deemed to have been refused under rule 8(3). The appellant thereupon made an application for review under rule 28 and the State Government, by an order dated 24th December, 1966 made in exercise of the power conferred under rule 29, sanctioned renewal of the quarry lease to the appellant. Pursuant to this order a quarry lease was granted by the State Government in, favour of the appellant for quarrying "'limestone for burning" for a period of five years from 21st June, 1966 to 20th June, 1971. This quarry lease was also in Form V annexed to the Rules but it did riot contain clause (15) giving an option of renewal to the appellant. Even though the last mentioned quarry lease granted to the appellant did not contain an option of renewal, the appellant made an application dated 19th June, 1970 to the State Government for renewal of.the quarry lease which was due to expire on 20th June, 1971. This application was in Form I annexed to the Rules and against column 5 of paragraph 3, which required an applicant to state whether the application was for a fresh lease or for a renewal of a lease previously granted, the appellant stated that the application was for renewal of' quarry lease. The application was, there-fore, clearly and avowedly an application for renewal of the quarry lease which was subsisting in favour of the appellant and not 'an application for a fresh lease. Then again, what was stated by the appellant against column 6 of paragraph 3 is very material. The appellant stated there that the mineral which she intended to mine was "limestone for burning as a minor mineral". This application was not disposed of by the State Government before the expiry of the quarry lease and it was, therefore, deemed to have been refused on 20th June, 1971. The appellant thereupon filed an application for review on 1st July, 1971 under rule 28.

was regarded as a minor mineral. The field of minor mineral, in so far as it concerned limestone, was narrowed down. Formerly limestone used for burning for manufacture of lime, whatever may be the uses to which such lime may be put, whether as building material or for other purposes, was within the definition of 'minor mineral', but after the amendment, it was only limestone used for burning in kilns for manufacture of lime used as building material that was covered by the definition of minor mineral. When limestone is used for burning for manufacture of lime for industrial or sophisticated purposes otherwise than as building material, it would have to be of superior quality and hence after the amendment, it was classified as major mineral, leaving only limestone used for burning in kilns for manufacture of lime used as building material to be regarded as minor mineral. But in both cases, whether under the original notification or the amended notification, limestone was contemplated to be used for burning for manufacture of lime. The only difference was that in the former, burning could be by any means or process and lime manufactured could be for any purpose including building material, while in the latter, burning could be only in the kilns and for manufacture of lime used only as building material and for no other purpose. It would, therefore, be seen that the mere use of the expression "limestone for burning" would be ambig uous. It would not indicate whether the limestone referred to is a major mineral or a minor mineral. That would all depend on how the limestone is to be burnt whether in kilns or otherwise, and what is the use to which lime manufactured by burning is to be put, whether as building material or for other purposes. The expression "limestone for burning" would, therefore, equally cover limestone as a minor mineral and that is clearly borne out by the Third Schedule to the Rules which prescribes a minimum output of 200 tonnes per acre per annum for "limestone (for burning)".

It cannot, therefore, be said that merely because the mineral for which the quarry lease was granted by the State Government to the appellant was described in the quarry lease as "limestone for burning", it was a quarry lease for a major mineral. Whether it was a quarry lease for a minor mineral or a major mineral would have to be gathered from the other provisions of the quarry lease and the circumstances surrounding its execution. Now in the present case the quarry lease was granted to the appellant pursuant to the order dated 24th December, 1966 made by the State Government it on the application for renewal made by the appellant. The application for renewal was in Form I annexed to the Rules which was the form prescribed by the Rules for an application for grant of a quarry lease for a minor mineral. The order dated 24th December, 1966 also treated the application of the appellant as one made for a quarry lease for a minor mineral under the Rules and sanctioned renewal of the quarry lease in favour of the appellant in exercise of the power under rule 29, which was a power exerciseable in relation to grant or renewal of a quarry lease in respect of a minor mineral. The quarry lease was also in Form V annexed to the Rules which is the form prescribed for a quarry lease in respect of a minor mineral. The royalty stipulated in the quarry lease was Rs. 2/- per tonne and that also clearly indicated that the quarry lease was in respect of a minor mineral. Vide the First Schedule to the Rules. It is, therefore, clear that though the mineral for which the quarry lease was granted to the appellant was described as "limestone for burning", it was a quarry lease for "limestone for burning" as a minor mineral, that is, for "limestone used in kilns for manufacture of lime used as building material" and it could not in the circumstances be condemned as null and void.

That takes us to the second question, namely, whether the application for renewal made by the appellant was proper ? The only ground on which the State Government rejected the application for renewal was that against column 6 in paragraph 3 the mineral which the appellant intended to mine was described as "limestone for burning as a minor mineral". The State Government took the view, and this view was affirmed by the High Court, that "limestone for burning" was a major mineral and the application for renewal was, therefore, an application for a quarry lease for a major mineral and the State Government was not competent to grant it under the Rules. We do not think this view taken by the State Government and approved by the High Court is correct. It rests on too strict a construction of the application for renewal ignoring the substance of the matter. When column 6 of paragraph 3 of Form V requires an applicant to state the mineral which he intends to mine, it is for the purpose of intimating to the State Government as to what is the mineral for which the quarry lease is applied for by the applicant. So long as the description given by the appellant against column 6 of paragraph 3 is sufficient to identify the mineral, the object of requiring the applicant to give information against column 6 of paragraph 3 would be satisfied and the application would not suffer from the fault of being vague or indefinite and the only question then would be whether the mineral mentioned there is a minor mineral. Here in the present case, against column 6 or paragraph 3 the mineral intended to be mined by the appellant was described as "limestone for burning as a minor mineral". The words "as a minor mineral" following upon "limestone for burning" clearly indicated that the mineral which the appellant intended to mine was not "limestone for burning" which was a major mineral but "limestone for burning" which was a minor mineral, that is, "limestone used in kilns for manufacture of lime used as building material". It cannot be gain said that it would have been better if the full description of the mineral had been given against column 6 of paragraph 3, but absence of reiteration of the full description cannot be regarded as having any invali- dating effect on the application for renewal. What was stated by the appellant against column 6 of paragraph 3 was sufficiently specific to identify the mineral as "limestone used in kilns for manufacture of lime used as building material" and that showed clearly beyond doubt that the application for renewal was an application in respect of a minor mineral. We are, therefore, of the view that the application for renewal was a proper application in respect of a minor mineral and the State Government was wrong in rejecting it on the ground chat it was an application in respect of a major mineral.