Judgment

C.K. Thakker, J.—Special leave granted.

2. The present appeals arise out of common judgment and order passed by the High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi on January 25, 2002 in Letters Patent Appeal Nos. 462, 472 and 473 of 2001. By the said order, the Division Bench of the High Court dismissed intra court appeals filed by the appellant herein confirming the orders passed by the learned Single Judge.

3. To appreciate the controversies raised in the present group of appeals, few facts in the first matter (Central Coal Fields Limited vs. State of Jharkhand & Others) may be noted.

4. The appellant Central Coal Field Limited (‘Company’ for short) is a Government Company within the meaning of Section 617 of the Companies Act 1956 having its registered office at Darbhanga, Ranchi. It is one of the subsidiary companies of Coal India Limited. The Company owns various coal mines in Districts Hazaribagh, Giridih, Palamou and Ranchi. The Company is carrying on business in extracting, selling and distributing coal. It is the case of the Company that for the purpose of mining activities, it acquired land through Central Government for mining purposes under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and