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2020 Supreme(MP) 949
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
(FULL BENCH)
Ajay Kumar Mittal, CJ, Sanjay Yadav and Vijay Kumar Shukla,JJ.
Trinity Infrastructure (M/s) v. State of M.P. & Others
Writ Petitions No. 25364 of 2019, 10711 of 2019, 18737 of 2019, 18776 of 2019, 19313 of 2019, 24869 of 2019, 24870 of 2019, 25365 of 2019, 25704 of 2019, 25932 of 2019, 26091 of 2019, 26097 of 2019, 26589 of 2019, 27371 of 2019, 27378 of 2019, 27530 of 2019, 129 of 2020, 690 of 2020, 703 of 2020, 945 of 2020, 948 of 2020, 954 of 2020, 1005 of 2020, 1006 of 2020, 1010 of 2020, 1665 of 2020, 1667 of 2020, 1670 of 2020, 1739 of 2020, 1744 of 2020, 1746 of 2020, 1862 of 2020, 2138 of 2020, 2141 of 2020, 2143 of 2020, 2144 of 2020, 2160 of 2020, 2444 of 2020, 2620 of 2020, 2623 of 2020, 2625 of 2020, 2626 of 2020, 2628 of 2020, 2734 of 2020, 3044 of 2020, 3045 of 2020, 3046 of 2020, 5243 of 2020, 5412 of 2020, 6087 of 2020, 9344 of 2020, 9930 of 2020, 6767 of 2020, 5277 of 2020, 5965 of 2020 and 2637 of 2020(Jabalpur); Decided on 21.9.2020
Devdatt Kamat with Shoeb Hasan Khan and Amit Seth, Kishore Shrivastava with Kapil Jain, Arvind Dudawat, Samdarshi Tiwari, Shekhar Sharma, Anil Lala, Vivek Kumar Jain, Shyam Yadav, Ranjeet Dwivedi, Devendra Singh,Tapan Bathere, Ms. Aishwarya Singh, Saurabh Makhija, Ankit Upadhyay and Rahul Deshmukh for petitioners; P.K. Kaurav, Advocate General with Pushpendra Yadav, Additional Advocate General for respondents/State.
Headnote:
¼1½ xkS.k [kfut fu;e] 1996 ¼e-iz-½ && fu-6] 7] 2 ¼lksyg&d½] ¼iPphl½] 9] 17] 18] 21] 22] 26] 29] 30 rFkk 36 vuq- ,d la[;kad Ø- 6 rFkk vuq- nks la[;kad Ø-3 && fu;e 6 rFkk 7 fHkUu&fHkUu {ks=ksa eas ifjofrZr gksrs gSa && muls vuqlwph ,d rFkk nks esa fofufnZ"V fHkUu&fHkUu [kfut vkPNkfnr gSa && vuqlwph ,d ds la[;kad Ø-6 ds ^^;kaf=d fØ;k }kjk fxV~Vh cukus ds fy, iRFkj** ds fy, ljdkjh Hkwfe ij [kuu iV~Vs dk iznku && [kqyh uhykeh }kjk ugha gks ldrkA
D;k vuqlwph ,d en Ø-6 ds xkS.k [kfut ;kaf=d fØ;k }kjk fxV~Vh cukus ds fy, iRFkj ¼vFkkZr~ Øs'kj ds mi;ksx gsrq½ ds fy,] tks e-iz- xkS.k [kfut fu;e] 1996 ds fu;e 6 }kjk fofu;fer gS] ljdkjh Hkwfe ij [kuu iV~Vs dk iznku dsoy [kqyh uhykeh }kjk gks ldrk gS\ ¼iSjk 1
vfHkfuèkkZfjr% lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 6 ds lknk ikB ls ,slk dksbZ vfHkO;Dr mica/k n`f"Vxkspj ugha gksrk fd vuqlwph ,d esa fofuZfn"V fdlh Hkh [kfut ds fy, ;k fQj vuqlwph ,d ds la[;kad Ø-6 esa fofufnZ"V [kfut& th ds fy, [kuu iV~Vk [kqyh uhykeh }kjk vkcafVr fd;k tk,xkA ¼iSjk 13
[kfut&th] tks lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 6 ds vèkhu vuqlwph ,d esa lfEefyr gS] lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 7 }kjk fofu;fer vuqlwph nks ds la[;kad Ø-3 dh izfof"V ls i`Fkd vkSj lqfHkUu [kfut gSA lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 9] 17] 18] 21] 22] 26] 29 rFkk 30 ls lefFkZr fu;e 6 }kjk fofufnZ"Vr% vkPNkfnr vuqlwph ,d ds la[;kad Ø-6 ds [kfut&th dh O;kfIr foLr`r gks dj mls lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 7 vkSj 36 }kjk vkPNkfnr ugha djrhA ¼iSjk 25
vr% lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 6 ds vèkhu Hkwfe dh izd`fr dk mYys[k ugha fd;k x;k gSA rn~uqlkj] funsZ'k fd, x, iz'u Ø- ¼1½ dk mRrj udkjkRed gS rFkk ;g vfHkfu/kkZfjr fd;k tkrk gS fd vuqlwph ,d ds la[;kad Ø- 6 ds [kftu&th ds fy,] tks lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 6 }kjk fofu;fer gS] ljdkjh Hkwfe ij [kuu iV~Vs dk iznku [kqyh uhykeh }kjk ugha gks ldrkA ¼2012½ 3 ,l lh lh 1] ¼2012½ 10 ,l lh lh 1] ¼2005½ 9 ,l lh lh 579] ¼2007½ 14 ,l lh lh 556] ¼1977½ 4 ,l lh lh 193] ¼1992½ 4 ,l lh lh 711] ¼2003½ 2 ,l lh lh 577] ¼2004½ 6 ,l lh lh 672] ¼2005½ 2 ,l lh lh 271 rFkk ¼2008½ 1 ,l lh lh 683 vuqlfjrA fjV ;kfpdk Ø- 6215 lu~ 2019 fu.khZr fnukad 27-6-2019 rFkk iqufoZyksdu ;kfpdk Ø-1051 lu~ 2019 fu.khZr fnukad 8-11-2019 myVs x,A fjV ;kfpdk Ø- 19690 vkWQ 2019 fu.khZr fnukad 20-1-2020 ¼Xokfy;j½ vuqeksfnrA 1957 ,l lh lh vkWuykbu ,e ih 63] ¼2002½ 2 ,l lh lh 678] ¼2015½ 8 ,l lh lh 129] ¼1976½ 1 ,l lh lh 834] ¼2003½ 2 ,l lh lh 111] ¼2005½ 6 ,l lh lh 281] ¼1990½ 4 ,l lh lh 680] 2018 ¼1½ ts ,y ts 483 = 2018 ¼1½ vkj ,u 131 ¼lafoèkku U;k;ihB½ rFkk fjV ;kfpdk Ø- 4278 lu~ 2001] fu.khZr fnukad 11-3-2016 ¼iw.kZ U;k;ihB½ fufnZ"VA ¼iSjk 33 ,oa 39
¼2½ xkS.k [kfut fu;e] 1996 ¼e-iz-½ && fu- 6 vuq- ,d la[;kad Ø-6 && la[;kad Ø-6 ds ^^;kaf=d fØ;k }kjk fxV~Vh cukus ds fy, iRFkj** ds laca/k esa nks izfØ;k,sa ugha gks ldrha] vFkkZr~ ,d ljdkjh Hkwfe ds fy, [kqyh uhykeh }kjk rFkk nwljh futh Hkwfe ds fy, iznku }kjkA
D;k vuqlwph ,d ds en Ø-6 ds xkS.k [kfut ;kaf=d fØ;k }kjk fxV~Vh cukus ds fy, iRFkj ¼vFkkZr~ Øs'kj ds mi;ksx gsrq½ ds iznku ds lacaèk lu~ 1996 fu;eksa ds vèkhu nks i`Fkd izfØ;k,a gks ldrh gaSAa] vFkkZr~ ,d ljdkjh Hkwfe ds fy, [kqyh uhykeh }kjk rFkk nwljh futh Hkwfe ds fy, iznÙk }kjk izfØ;k,a gks ldrh gSa] vFkkZr~ ,d ljdkjh Hkwfe ds fy, [kqyh uhykeh }kjk rFkk nwljh futh Hkwfe ds fy, iznku }kjk] fof'k"Vr% tc lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 6 esa rnèkhu mfYyf[kr izkfèkdkjh }kjk [kuu iV~Vs dk iznku vkSj uohdj.k fofgr fd;k x;k gS\ ¼iSjk 1
vfHkfuèkkZfjr% D;ksafd ;g fofufnZ"Vr% vfHkfuèkkZfjr fd;k x;k gS fd vuqlwph ,d ds la[;kad Ø-6 dk [kfut&th lu~ 1996 ds fu;eksa ds fu;e 6 }kjk vkPNkfnr gS] ftlea mDr [kfut ds fy, [kuu iV~Vk iznku ;k uohdj.k gsrq vkosnu ds ek/;e ls fn, tkus dk mica/k gS] uhykeh }kjk ugha( vr% [kfut&th ds lacaèk esa nks izfØ;k,¡ ugha gks ldrha] vFkkZr~ ,d ljdkjh Hkwfe ds fy, [kqyh uhykeh }kjk rFkk nwljh futh Hkwfe ds fy, iznku }kjkA¼iSjk 34
(1) Minor Mineral Rules, 1996 (M. P.) -- Rr. 6, 7, 2 (xvi-a),2 (xxv), 9, 17, 18, 21, 22, 26, 29, 30and 36, Sch. I Sr. No. 6 and Sch. II Sr. No. 3 -- rules 6 and 7 operate in different fields -- they cover different minerals specified in Schedules I and II -- grant of quarry lease for “stone for making gitti by mechanical crushing” at Serial No.6of Schedule I on Government land – cannot be by open auction.
Whether the grant of quarry lease for minor mineral stone for making gitti by mechanical crushing (i.e., use of crusher) at ItemNo.6 of Schedule I, which is governed by rule 6 of the M.P.Minor Mineral Rules, 1996, on the government land, could beonly by way of open auction . [Para 1
Held: A plain reading of rule 6 of the 1996 Rules does not show any express provision that the quarry lease for any of the minerals specified either in ScheduleI or for Mineral-G specified at Serial No. 6 of Schedule I, shall be allotted by open auction. [Para 13
Mineral-G, which is included in Schedule I under rule 6 of the 1996 Rules, is a separate and distinct mineral than the entry at Serial No. 3 of Schedule II governed by rule 7 of the 1996 Rules. The Mineral-G at Serial No. 6 of Schedule I specifically covered by rule 6 supported by rules 9, 17, 18, 21, 22, 26, 29 and 30 of the 1996 Rules does not enlarge its scope to be covered by rules 7 and 36 of the 1996 Rules. [Para 25
Thus, under rule 6 of the 1996 Rules, the nature of the land has not been mentioned. Accordingly, the Question No. (I) referred, is answered in the negative and it is held that the grant of quarry lease for Mineral-G at Serial No. 6 of Schedule I which is governed by rule 6 of the 1996 Rules, on the Government land, cannot be by way of open auction. (2012) 3 SCC 1, (2012) 10 SCC 1, (2005) 9 SCC 579, (2007) 14 SCC 556, (1977) 4 SCC 193, (1992) 4 SCC 711, (2003) 2 SCC 577, (2004) 6 SCC 672, (2005) 2 SCC 271 and (2008) 1 SCC 683 followed. W. P. No. 6215 of 2019 decided on 27.6.2019 and R. P. No. 1051 of 2019 decided on 8.11.2019 overruled. W. P. No. 19690 of 2019 decided on 20.1.2020 (Gwalior) approved. 1957 SCC Online MP 63, (2002) 2 SCC 678, (2015) 8 SCC 129, (1976) 1 SCC 834, (2003) 2 SCC 111, (2005) 6 SCC 281, (1990) 4 SCC 680, 2018 (1) JLJ 483 = 2018 (1) RN 131 (Constitution Bench) and W.P. No. 4278/2001 decided on 11.3.2016 (FB) referred to. [Paras 33 & 39
(2) Minor Mineral Rules, 1996 (M. P.) -- R. 6, Sch. I Sr. No. 6 -- there cannot be two processes,i.e., one by open auction for Government land and another by way of grant for private land in respect of “stone for making gitti by mechanical crushing” at Sr. No.6.
Whether under the 1996 Rules there can be two separate processes, i.e., one by open auction for government land and another by way of grant for private land in respect of grant of minor mineral stone for making gitti by mechanical crushing (i.e., use of crusher) at Item No. 6 of Schedule I, particularly when rule 6 of the 1996 Rules prescribes for grant and renewal of quarry lease by the authority mentioned thereunder? [Para 1
Held: Since the Mineral-G at Serial No. 6 of Schedule I is specifically held to be covered by rule 6 of the 1996 Rules, which admits of the quarry lease for the said mineral by application for grant or renewal and not by auction, therefore, there cannot be two processes, i.e., one by open auction for Government land and another by way of grant for private land in respect of Mineral-G. Para 34
ORDER
1. A Division Bench of this Court while hearing the Writ Petition No.25364/2019 (M/s Trinity Infrastructure v. State of M.P. and others) along with connected matters on 29.1.2020 found conflict between the Division Bench decision of Indore Bench of this Court passed in W.P. No.6215/2019 (Prathvi Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. v. State of M.P. and others) decided on 27.6.2019, which was later on modified by the Bench vide common order dated 8.11.2019 passed in Review Petition No.1051/2019 (State of M.P. and others v. Prathvi Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. and others) decided along with connected review petitions and the observations made by a Division Bench of Gwalior Bench of this Court vide order dated 20.1.2020 passed in W.P. No.19690/2019 (Smt. Prabha Sharma v. State of M.P. and others). Therefore, the following questions were framed for consideration and determination by the Larger Bench:-
(I) Whether the grant of quarry lease for minor mineral stone for making Gitti by mechanical crushing (i.e. use of crusher) at Item No.6 of Schedule I, which is governed by Rule 6 of the M.P. Minor Mineral Rules, 1996, on the government land, could be only by way of open auction?
(II) Whether under the 1996 Rules there can be two separate processes i.e. one by open auction for government land and another by way of grant for private land in respect of grant of minor mineral stone for making Gitti by mechanical crushing (i.e. use of crusher) at Item No.6 of Schedule I particularly when Rule 6 of the 1996 Rules prescribes for grant and renewal of quarry lease by the Authority mentioned thereunder?
(III) Whether the Division Bench judgment of Indore Bench of this Court in W.P. No.6215/2019 (Prathvi Infrastructure v. State of M.P.) decided on 27.06.2019 which was modified in R.P. No.1051/2019 decided on 08.11.2019 to mean that allotment of quarry lease on any land owned/controlled by any instrumentality of the State or the State in respect of quarry for making Gitti shall be done by the State through the process of open auction only can be held to be deciding the legal issue correctly in view of the Constitution Bench decision of the Supreme Court in Natural Resources Allocation, In re, Special Reference No.1 of 2012, (2012) 10 SCC 1?
(IV) Whether the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the M.P. Minor Mineral Rules, 1996 have been correctly interpreted in the Division Bench judgment of Gwalior Bench of this Court in W.P. No.19690/2019 (Smt. Prabha Sharma vs. State of M.P. and others)?
(V) Any other question, which may arise for adjudication of the issue involved in the present petition or which the Larger Bench thinks appropriate to decide?
2. After the matter was referred to the Larger Bench for consideration and determination of the aforesaid questions in M/s Trinity Infrastructure's case (supra) and connected matters, some more writ petitions involving similar dispute have been filed. In W.P. No.6767/2020 (M/s Aman Stone Crusher vs. State of M.P. and others) filed before the Gwalior Bench involving similar controversy, the petitioner therein sought parity with the order dated 20.1.2020 passed by the Division Bench in the case of Smt. Prabha Sharma (supra) wherein the Court has directed the Licensing Authority to exercise powers under rule 6 of the M.P. Minor Mineral Rules, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as “the 1996 Rules”) and table contained therein, which indicates that the case of the petitioner therein falls under Entry 6 of Schedule-I (specified minerals which can only be granted and renewed as per the procedure prescribed therein). After discussing both the pronouncements in the cases of Prathvi Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (supra) and Smt. Prabha Sharma (supra), the Division Bench at Gwalior vide order dated 8.7.2020 again observed that quarry of stone for making Gitti by mechanical crushing can
