P L D 2004 Supreme Court 659 (PLP)

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3. Grant of lease.‑‑(1).No mining lease for any minor mineral shall be granted otherwise than in accordance with these rules. (2) A mining lease in respect of any minor mineral shall be granted by the Collector of the District in which the minor mineral is found or situated only in respect of lands in which the mines and minerals are the property of Government"

5. Procedure to lease out minor minerals.‑‑‑(1) The Collector shall, for the purpose of general information, cause a Schedule, to be prepared and maintained of the area or areas in the District where minor minerals are situated and shall also cause a tentative programme to be formulated and maintained in hip Office for auction and grant of lease of such minerals. (2) The Collector shall demarcate the area to be leased out in the following manner:‑‑ (a) At every angle or corner of each boundary line or as near thereto as is practicable, he shall cause to be erected pegs or small pillars of solid material which shall not be less than 2 feet above the surface of the ground and in no case less than three inches in diameter; and (b) If the pegs or pillars as aforesaid are not available, he shall cause mounds of earth to be built at such angle or corner, each having a height of not less than two feet and a diameter at the bases of not less than two feet.

6. Grant of lease through public notice.‑‑‑(1) For the general information‑of the public, the Collector shall, through a public notice, notify at least one month prior to the date of actual auction. ‑ (i) the details of the area in respect of which the lease is proposed to be granted; (ii) the details of the auction programme, specifying the date, time and the place where the auction is to take place; (iii) The terms and conditions of the auction and the proposed lease; (iv) Reserve price of the lease to be auctioned.

2. The Collector may also notify the retail price per ton of the minor mineral at which the lessee shall supply the same to the consumers at the site of the excavations. Explanation. While fixing the retail price of a minor mineral, the Collector shall take into consideration the probable excavation cost of the mineral and the other dues which will be payable by the lessee." The cumulative effect of above rules would be that the Collector of the District would have control over the grant of leasehold rights in respect of minor minerals situated in such an area where the mines and the minerals being the property of the Government are lying deposited but if there are no mines or the minerals as per the definition of rule 2(h) of Rules 1971, the owner of the land can extract the minor minerals on his own from the land belonging to him and such minor minerals are not required to be put to auction for purpose of granting of the leasehold rights. However, if for any reason the leasehold rights of extracting minor minerals have been granted to a third party in auction then for than purpose the owner of the land would be entitled for compensation under rule 14 of Rules 1971. As far as section 49 of Land Revenue Act is concerned, its provisions are not attracted in the cases pertaining to minor minerals as its plain and ordinary language deals in respect of the rights of Government in mines and minerals. This liberal interpretation of rules 3, 5, 6 and 14 has to be adopted in order to safeguard the interest of the owners of the land having the deposits of minor minerals because if besides them a third party succeeds td acquire leasehold right in an auction to extract the minor minerals from their land, it would cause multiple administrative problems for both the sides and owners of the land would be deprived to utilize the benefits of the land owned by them. However, it is made clear that where in the landed property other than owned by the individual as per the Revenue Record, the Collector, of the respective District shall grant the leasehold rights of minor minerals by adhering strictly to the procedure laid down in the rules of 1971. Thus for the foregoing reasons, appeal is allowed and the declaration and the relief as sought for in WP No.12 of 1997 is granted, with the observations made herein above. No order as to costs. M.H./M‑83/S Appeal allowed.