JUDGMENT

JASWANT SINGH, J.:— This batch of 20 Civil Appeals Nos. 705 to 724 of 1971 by certificate under Article 133 (1) (a) of the Constitution which are directed against the common judgment dated September 3, 1970, of the High Court of Judicature at Patna and raise important questions relating mainly to interpretation and scope of Section 30-A of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 (Act 67 of 1957) (hereinafter referred to as the 1957 Act), shall be disposed of by this judgment.

2. Circumstances leading to these appeals in so far as they would be helpful in appreciating the points involved are : Prior to October 25, 1949, proprietors of big estates like Rajas of Ramgarh and Jharia granted, in exercise of their untrammelled discretion, mining leases of huge tracts of land in the districts of Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, and Singhbhum to various persons for winning and extracting coal for a period of 999 years in lieu of payment of premiums and fixed annual rental. There was in these leases either no stipulation for payment of royalty or the royalty stipulated for was very low. Except in a few cases, the lessees of these mining leases did not work the mines themselves and granted sub-leases thereof more or less on similar terms.

3. On September 8, 1948, the Central Legislature passed the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948 (Act No. 53 of 1948) (hereinafter referred to as the 1948 Act) under Entry 36 of List I of Seventh Schedule to the Government of India Act, 1935. The Act, as declared in its Preamble, was enacted as it was considered expedient in public interest to provide inter alia for the regulation of mines and for the development of minerals. Sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the Act prohibited the grant after the commencement of the Act of any mining lease otherwise than in accordance with the rules made under the Act. Sub section (2) of Section 4 of the Act provided that any mining lease granted contrary to sub-section (1) would be void and of no effect. Section 5 of the Act empowered the Central Government to make rules for regulating the grant of mining leases or for prohibiting the grant of such leases in respect of any mineral or in any area. Section 7 of the Act empowered the Central Government to make rules for the purpose of modifying or altering the terms and conditions of any existing mining lease i.e. any mining lease granted prior to the commencement of the Act, so as to bring such lease into conformity with the rules made under Section 5. In exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 5 of the Act, the Central Government made the Mineral Concession Rules, 1949. Both the 1948 Act and the Mineral Concession Rules, 1949, came into force on October 25, 1949.

4. Rule 41 of the Mineral Concession Rules which related to the conditions of mining leases made it compulsory for every mining lease to include a condition enjoining the lessee to pay royalty on the minerals at the rate specified in the First Schedule to the Rules which in case of coal was 5% of the F. O. R. price.

5. The 1948 Act was extended to Chhota Nagpur by a notification dated January 16, 1950, issued under Section 92 of the Government of India Act, 1935.

6. The provisions of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1949, did not apply to leases or sub-leases granted anterior to October 25, 1949.

7. The Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950. Articles 246 and 254 of the Constitution which relate to the distribution of legislative powers and Entry 54 of List I (Union List) and Entry 23 of List II (State List) of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution read thus :-

"Article 246. (1) Notwithstanding anything in clauses (2) and (3), Parliament has exclusive power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List I in the Seventh Schedule.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in Clause (3), Parliament, and, subject to clause (1), the Legislature of any State also, have power to make laws with respec