Judgment

UNTWALIA, J. :- This is a plaintiff s appeal by special leave of this Court from the judgment and decree of the Rajasthan High Court whereby the plaintiff s second appeal from the decision of the First Appellate Court was dismissed and the dismissal of its suit was maintained.

2. The facts of the case lie in a narrow compass and may usefully be stated at the outset. The plaintiff was granted a mining lease for mining mica by the erstwhile State of Shahpura for a period of 20 years commencing from the 12th August, 1941. The area of the lease purported to be 1500 sq. miles. In due course the mining area in question came to form part of the State of Rajasthan. The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 - hereinafter called the Act - came into force from 1st June, 1953. Under Section 6 (1) of the Act as it stood at the relevant time the area of a mining lease in the case of mica could not be more than 10 sq. miles and its maximum period could not exceed 20 years as provided in Sec. 8. Section 16 confers power on the appropriate authority to modify a mining lease granted before 24th October, 1949 to bring it in conformity with the Act and the Rules made thereun