The court held that illegal mining from government property constitutes the offence of theft under Section 379 of the IPC, which is a cognizable offence actionable by police, distinct from proceedings under the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957, which require a specific complaint.

The petitioner has filed the present petition for quashing of F.I.R. No.11 of 2022, dated 29.01.2022, registered at police Station Sujanpur, District Hamirpur, H.P., for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 379 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 20 and 22 of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act 1957 (Mining Act).

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present petition are that the police were on patrolling duty on 28.01.2022. They received secret information at Jangalberi at 11:30 PM regarding the theft of minor minerals from a Khad with the help of JCB and Tippers. The police prepared a rukka and sent it to the police station, where an FIR was registered. The police went to the spot and found 13 tippers/trucks bearing registration numbers HP68A-2227, PB06-2974, PB06L-2724, HP68B-1574, HP53A-2575, HP57-8833, HP57-8832, HP73A-0713, HP65-3572, HP67-1605, HP68-2074, HP67-5252, and HP57A-6084 on the spot. Three tippers were filled with minor minerals. The police took the photographs and video recorded illegal mining. These minor minerals were being taken to Vijay Stone Crusher, District Kangra, H.P. The police arrested the accused and investigated the matter. The police obtained the demarcation of the spot and found that the mining was being carried out on the land belonging to the State, which was not leased to any person. No extraction of minor minerals was being carried out in Khasra No. 1049. The police prepared the charge sheet after the completion of the investigation and filed it before the Court.

3. Being aggrieved by the registration of the F.I.R and filing of the charge sheet, the petitioner filed the present petition for quashing the FIR and consequent proceedings arising out of the said F.I.R., asserting that the site where the mining was stated to be carried out was leased to one Sh. Bhim Singh Rangra, as per the lease deed dated 20.03.2021. No mining was being carried out on the land owned by the government. FIR does not mention the Khasra number over which the mining was being carried out. The machinery was not functioning, and Tippers were empty which fact can be verified from the photographs taken by the police. There was no violation of the terms and conditions of the Mining Lease. The offences under the Mining Act are non-cognizable, and no FIR could have been registered for the commission of those offences. The provisions of Section 120B of the IPC were wrongly invoked, as there is no evidence of any conspiracy; hence, it was prayed that the present petition be allowed and the FIR and consequential proceedings arising out of it be quashed.

4. The petition is opposed by filing a reply by respondents No. 1 to 3, making a preliminary submission regarding the lack of maintainability. The contents of the FIR were reproduced. It was submitted that police had impounded 13 tippers and 5 JCBs. Twenty-nine owners and drivers were released after serving them notices under Section 41A of the Cr.P.C. Police associated Raj Singh as an independent witness during the operation. It was found after the investigation that the illegal mining was being carried out in Khasra No. 1050 and not in Khasra No. 1050/1. The police had also taken the photographs of the illegal mining and video recorded it. The removal of the minor mineral