In this petition, the petitioner has sought for quashing of a criminal case in C.C. No. 452/2017 pending on the file of the Civil Judge and JMFC, Harappanahalli for the offences punishable under Sections 4(1) and 21 of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (for short, ‘MMDR Act) and Section 192(A)(1) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 (for short, KLR Act).

2. The allegations in the charge sheet are quite relevant to be quoted for disposal of this case. The charge sheet has been laid making allegations that, the petitioner, without any licence or permission from the Government encroaching the lands of the Government and also doing mining operation in his Patta land and as well as in the encroached land belonged to the Government, particularly in Sy. No. 429/A measuring 1.77 guntas of Madapura village and also in 0.81 acre of Government land and further in Sy. No. 429/B measuring 4.32 guntas of land belonging to the accused/petitioner. In the said lands the petitioner has been doing mining operation viz., stone crushing for the purpose of wrongful gain without obtaining any licence or permission from the Government. The offences under Section 4(1) and 21 of the MMDR Act, 1957 are concerned, the Police cannot investigate the matter and submit any report under Section 173 of Cr.P.C.. In this regard, it is worth to mention here Section 22 of the MMDR Act, which reads as follows:

Sec. 22: Cognizance of offences No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act or any Rules made hereunder except upon complaint in writing made by a person authorized in this behalf by the Central Government or the State Government.”

3. On a plain reading of the above said provisions, there is a mandatory statutory embargo on the courts taking cognizance of any offence punishable under the MMDR Act and KMMC Rules without there being a private complaint by an authorized person of the Central Government or the State Government.

4. Section 2(d) of Cr.P.C. also explains as to what is meant by ‘Complaint’, which reads as under:

Sec. 2(d): ‘Complaint’ means any allegation made orally or in writing to a Magistrate, with a view to his taking action under this Code, that some person, whether known or unknown, has committed an offence, but does not include a Police report.” (Emphasis supplied)

Therefore it is crystal clear that, on a plain combined reading of the above two provisions that, the complaint in writing shall be made by the competent authority to the Magistrate, having jurisdiction to take cognizance of the offence under the provisions of MMDR Act and KMMC Rules. The said provisions specifically excludes the report under Section 173 of Cr.P.C. by the Police. Therefore, even without discussing anything on merits of the case, this court is of the opinion that the charge sheet filed by the Police so far it relates to provisions of the MMDR Act and KMMC Rules, is hit by Section 22 of the MMDR Act and the same is liable to be quashed.

5. So far as Section 192A of KLR act is concerned, the Police have invoked the said provision on the ground that, some portion of the land as per the charge sheet, i.e., an extent of 0.81 acres of land, which is adjacent to the land bearing Survey No. 429A of Madapura Village, the petitioner has encroached the said land for the purpose of doing mining operation. In order to invoke Section 192A of KLR Act, again there are certain procedures to be followed before lodging a report by the Police. It is worth to note here a decision of this court reported in ILR 2008 Kar. 4520 between Lalitha Shstry Vs. State of Karnataka, wherein this Court had an occasion to deal with the procedure to be followed before initiation of any criminal proceedings under Section 192A of KLR Act, which read thus:

(A) CONSTITUTION OF INDIA – ARTICLES 226 AND 227 –ALLEGATIN OF ENCROACHMENT OF GOVERNMENT LAND – Complaint by the Tahsildar – initiation of criminal proceedings before the jurisdictional Magistrate a