ORISSA HIGH COURT : CUTTACK W.P.(C) No.9272 of 2018 In the matter of an Application under Articles 226 & 227 of the Constitution of India, 1950.

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Shree Balaji Engicons Private Limited (A company incorporated under the Companies Act having Registered Office At: Belpahar (R.S.)

Jharsuguda – 768 217, Odisha Represented through its Managing Director Sri Anil Kumar Agrawal Aged about 56 years Son of Late Radheshyam Agrawal. … Petitioner -VERSUS-

1. State of Odisha Represented through The Principal Secretary to Government Revenue and Disaster Management Department At: Secretariat, Bhubaneswar District: Khordha.

2. Secretary Department of Mines Government of Odisha At: Secretariat, Bhubaneswar District: Khordha.

3. The Collector-cum-District Magistrate Jharsuguda, At/P.O./District: Jharsuguda.

4. The Tahasildar, Lakhanpur At/P.O.: Lakhanpur District: Jharsuguda.

5. Odisha Power Generation Corporation Ltd.

Having its Registered Office At: Zone-A, 7^th Floor, Fortune Towers Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar District: Khordha. … Opposite Parties Advocates appeared in this case:

For the Petitioner : M/s. Pawan Upadhyaya and Suvendu Kumar Sethi, Advocates For the Opposite Party : Mr. Saswat Das, Nos.1 to 4 Additional Government Advocate For the Opposite Party : Mr. Surya Prasad Mishra, No.5 Senior Advocate Assisted by M/s. Soumya Mishra, A. Mohanta, Lalit Kumar Maharana, Advocates P R E S E N T:

HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. HARISH TANDON AND HONOURABLE JUSTICE MR. MURAHARI SRI RAMAN Date of Hearing : 11.02.2026 :: Date of Judgment : 06.05.2026

JUDGMENT

MURAHARI SRI RAMAN, J.

The petitioner, craving to question the levy and collection by way of deduction from the payments made towards royalty on account of ―earth‖ extracted from land leased out to the Odisha Power Generation Corporation Ltd. (A Government of Odisha undertaking, for brevity hereinafter be called ―OPGC‖) and utilized for construction of Ash Pond at Village: Tilia for its 2X660 MW Thermal Power Plant Project, IB Thermal Power Station, Banharpalli in the District of Jharsuguda (Odisha), being contrary to the provisions of the Odisha Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 20041, beseeches exercise of power conferred on this Court under the provisions of Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India for grant of following relief(s):

1 The Odisha Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2004 has been superseded by

virtue of the Odisha Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2016, except as respects

things done or omitted to be done before such supersession.

“In the facts and under the circumstances stated above, the Hon‟ble Court would graciously be pleased to declare that royalty is not leviable in respect of the extraction of earth from the land of the opposite party No.5-Corporation for construction of Ash Pond of the said opposite party;

And be further pleased to direct the opposite parties to refund the already deducted royalty as per demand notice under Annexure-9 from the running account bills of the petitioner under Annexure-5 series;

Issue any appropriate order/orders deemed fit in the facts and circumstances of the case;

And for which act of kindness, the petitioner shall remain ever pray as in duty bound.”

Facts leading to filing of writ petition:

2. The petitioner, having participated in connection with the Request for Proposal for construction of Ash Pond over the leased land in favour of the opposite party No.5- OPGC by submitting its bid on 23.11.2016 was declared successful and accordingly executed an agreement on

21.12.2016 with OPGC.

2.1. After such execution of agreement, by a Letter dated

17.02.2017 intimated that as against the letter of acceptance issued by the OPGC indicating award of work and performance guarantee, the same would be subject to conditions inter alia that earth to be used with respect to ―item 4.01 of BoQ‖ pertaining to inside the pond area is not liable to be levied with royalty as per provisions of Rule 3 of the Odisha Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2004 (―Rules, 2004‖, for short) an