(1.) This order shall govern the disposal of R.P. No.597/2018, R.P. No.599/2018 and R.P. No.600/2018 also. For the sake of convenience, the facts are borrowed from R. P. No.595/2018.
(2.) The Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 08.03.2018 passed in W. P. No.1313/2018 allowed the writ petition of the present petitioner and other three petitioners in part. Paras-19 to 21 of the order dated 08.03.2018 are relevant, which reads as under :-
(3.) Learned Senior Counsel for the review petitioner has submitted that it is true that no litigant has any vested right in the matter of procedural law but where the question is of change of forum, it ceases to be a question of procedure only. The forum of appeal or proceedings is a vested right and that vested right will be continued in respect of amendment made on 18.05.2017 under Rule 53 of the M. P. Minor and Mineral Rules, 1996 (in short "the Rules of 1996") and thus, this Court has wrongly directed that the question of imposition of penalty as per the rules which was prevailing on the date of joint inspection made by the joint inspect team and the same has to be dealt with under amended provisions of the Rules of 1996. He has also drawn our attention to the law laid down by the Apex Court in the case of Commissioner of Income Tax, Orissa vs. Dhadi Sahu, (1994) Supp1 SCC 257, wherein it has been held as under :-