Judgment

VENKATARAMIAH, J. :- Respondent No. 1 Banshi Ram Modi was granted a mining lease by the State of Bihar for mining and winning mica in respect of an area of eighty acres of land in the villages of Meghatri and Bishuntikar in the district Hazaribagh,, which formed part of reserved forest area in the year 1966. A mining lease deed was executed in that connection by the lessee and the State Government on April 25, 1966 in accordance with the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960. The lease deed was registered on May 30, 1966. The period of lease was fixed at 20 years. The said lease will expire on April 24, 1986 unless it is renewed in accordance with law.

2. 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 associate 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 o