IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AT JABALPUR BEFORE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE VIVEK RUSIA &

HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE PRADEEP MITTAL

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ON THE 9 OF JANUARY, 2026 WRIT PETITION No. 232 of 2026 ARUN CHANDRA AWASTHY AND OTHERS Versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS Appearance:

Shri Devendra Kumar Dixit - Senior Advocate with Shri Anshul Dixit, Advocate for the petitioners.

Shri Abhijeet Awasthi - Deputy Advocate General for the respondent/State.

ORDER Per: Justice Vivek Rusia The petitioners have filed the present petition being aggrieved by the order dated 09.10.2025 (Annexure-P/7) whereby the M.P. Board of Revenue, Gwalior dismissed the revision filed by the petitioners and upheld the orders dated 26.11.2024 & 19.7.2024 passed by the Commissioner, Naramadapuram & Collector, Betul (Mining) respectively, under the provisions of M.P. Mines (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation &

Storage) Rules, 2022 [hereinafter referred as the "Rules of 2022"].

2. Facts of the case, in short, are as under:-

The Assistant Mining Officer (Mining Cell), Betul, received information about the illegal excavation of minor mineral ('muram') from land area 12.428 hectares, which is part of government land being Khasra No.428, situated in village Amdar, Tahsil Betul. He reached the spot alongwith Halka Patwari and Gram Kotwar with indepenent witness for conducting an inspection. On the spot one Chain Mounted Poclain Machine of yellow colour, having Model No.R215167 S.No.K533D3C539 of Hyundai Company was found. At the spot, one Dumper bearing MP-48/11-1320 of yellow colour was also found. Upon inquiry, Nanu Biske informed that this machine belongs to Adtiya Awasthi, and the dumper belongs to Arun Chand Awasthi. At the spot, another Dumper bearing No.MP-04/HA-3785 was found for the loading of 'muram'. Driver-Umesh Raghuvanshi disclosed the name of the owner as Tarun Rathore, on whose instructions he brought the Truck for the loading of 'muram'. Aditya Awasthi reached the spot and admitted his ownership as also that of his father of Dumper No.MP-48/11- 1320. According to him, the land owner, namely, Shri Kishore Singh, s/o Shri Karan Singh, called JCB Machine for digging and levelling of his own private land/field, and his vehicles were not involved in illegal excavation of 'muram'.

3. The team of the Mining Department found a big pit developed due to the digging of muram and measured the area of the same as 30 X 60 X 3.45 mtrs., from which 621 cubic meters of muram was excavated with the help of Poclain Machine and Dumper. At the spot, Poclain machines and Dumpers were taken into custody. Accordingly, the Assistant Mining Officer submitted a detailed report alongwith documents, panchnama, recorded statements, seizure memo, spot map, and supurdiginama to the Collector (Mining) Betul. Thereafter, show-cause notices were issued to six persons, namely, Aditya Awasthi, Nilesh Khare, Arunchand Awasthi, Nanu, Tarun Rathore & Umesh Raghuvanshi. After giving an opportunity to hear in detail final order dated 19.7.2024 was passed under Rule 18 of the Rules of 2022 by imposing a penalty of Rs. 18,63,000/- with confiscation of vehicles and a dumper.

4. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid order, four petitioners-Adtiya Awasthi, Nilesh Khare, Arunchand Awasthi and Nanu- filed an appeal (No.41/Appeal/2024-25) under Rule 27 of the Rules of 2022 before the Commissioner, Narmadapuram. Vide order dated 26.11.2024, the Commissioner dismissed the appeal and maintained the order of the Collector dated 19/7/2024.

5. The petitioners approached the Board of Revenue in a revision petition under Rule 28(1) of the Rules of 2022, which was dismissed vide impugned order dated 09.10.2025 by upholding the orders passed by the Collector and Commissioner. Hence, this writ petition is before this Court.

6. Shri D.K.Dixit, learned senior counsel for the petitioners, submits that all three authorities, viz. the Collector, the Commissioner and the Board of Revenue, have failed to examine the fact that