IMPORTANT POINT
Water is a mineral within the meaning of Mines Act, 1952 r/ws 2(ba) of the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.

JUDGMENT

S.Saghir Ahmad, J.-Leave granted.

2. Water is a mineral within the meaning of Mines Act, 1952 read with Section 2(ba) of the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962 (for short, the Act) or not is the question raised by the respondent in this appeal.

3. Appellant owns survey plot nos. 780, 781, 913/1 914, 893, 918/223, 924/2, 923, 926 of moja Ichchapur, Tehasil Choryasi, District Surat which were notified on 23.6.83 under Section 3(1) of the Act. For acquiring the right of user in those plots to enable the respondent No. 2, namely, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, in whom the rights were ultimately vested, to lay pipelines for transporting Petroleum from one place to another, a Notification was issued under Section 3(1) of the Act on 23.6.83. This Notification was followed by Notification dated 16.1.84 issued under Section 6(1) of the Act and the right of user in the aforesaid land stood acquired for laying the pipelines. It was also indicated in that Notification that the right of user in the said lands shall, instead of vesting in the Central Government, vest in the Oil and Natural Gas Commission.

4. In pursuance of the aforesaid Notifications, Oil and Natural Gas Commission (for short, ONGC) laid down pipelines in the aforesaid plots of land for transportation of Petroleum from Utran Terminal to Kribhco Terminal.

5. The right of user having vested in the ONGC, they initially laid one 12" Gas pipeline through the said land (300 metres wide) for transportation of the Gas. The Gas processing plant is said to be located at Hazira and south basin. Gas is being processed at that plant since 1988 for being supplied to various consumers. In order to run the aforesaid plant efficiently and effectively, water is a commodity which is vitally required. Water was initially drawn for that purpose from KRBC canal division but when ONGC was informed that no further water would be made available from the canals due to Kakarprra Irrigation Project, the ONGC decided to draw water from the alternative sources through their own pipelines which they thought they would lay down underneath the land of which the right of user had already vested in them. Accordingly, a notice dated 6.10.94 was issued under Section 8 of the Act for laying pipelines to carry water for effective working of the Gas processing plant. The pipeline was to pass through a stretch of land of 13 Kms. out of which the land owners/occupiers of 11 Kms. did not raise any objection whatsoever but the appellant who is concerned only with 2 Kms. of land challenged the notice on the ground that the proposed pipelines were not being laid for transporting petroleum or any other mineral but for transporting water which was not permissible under the Act. This contention has been rejected by the Gujarat High Court which was of the opinion that the action of ONGC in laying down the proposed pipeline for transporting water was fully covered by the provisions of the Act specially as the right of user of the land through which the pipeline was proposed to be carried had already vested in the ONGC.

6. The appellant has again raised this question in this appeal while ONGC has raised an additional ground that "Water" for which the pipelines have been laid is a mineral and since "Minerals" could be validly carried through those pipelines, "Water" could also be carried or transported through them.

7. Whether "Water" is a mineral or not was not decided by the High Court as it was of the opinion that carrying of water through the pipelines would be covered by the phrase "any other act necessary for the utilisation of the pipeline" used in Section 7(1)(ii) of the Act on the simple logic that :-

(i) Pipelines earlier laid were meant, and, are being utilised for transportation of Gas.

(ii) This Gas is processed at the Gas processing plant.

(iii) For running of Gas processing plant, water is necessary otherwi