BHUNESWAR SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner No. 1, a partnership firm and owner of a coking coal mine known as Turiya Colliery before its nationalisation, has filed the present writ application claiming certain further payments from the respondents in relation to the period during which the management of their mine remained vested in the Central Government under the provisions of the Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1971, and it also calls for an interpretation and true scope and ambit of the provisions of Sections 21 and 22 of the Coking Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1972.

(2.) On Oct. 17, 1971, the President promulgated the Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Ordinance, 1971 to provide for the taking over by the Central Government, in the public interest, of the management of 214 coking coal mines and 12 coke oven Plants, including the coal mine in question, pending nationalisation of such mines. The Ordinance was replaced by the Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1971. Thereafter, Parliament enacted the Coking Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 to complete the process of nationalisation of the coking coal mines and coke oven plants. It was entitled as 'An Act to provide for the acquisition and transfer of the right, title and interest of the owners of the coking coal mines specified in the First Sch. and the right, title and interest of the owners of such coke oven plants as are in or about the said coking coal mines with a view to reorganising and reconstructing such mines and Plants for the purpose of protecting, conserving and promoting scientific development of the resources of coking coal needed to meet the growing requirements of the iron and steel industry and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto'. The coal mine of the petitioner was listed under serial No. 70 in the First Sch. of the Nationalisation Act. "Appointed day" under Section 2 (a) of of the Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1971 was Oct. 17, 1971 while that under Section 3 (a) of the Coking Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1972, is May 1, 1972. The management of all other coal mines was taken over by the Central Government under the Coal Mines (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1973, and as already said earlier, the second step after the management came under the control of the Government was the actual nationalisation of the ownership itself by Act No. 26 of 1973. The sequence of events shows the evolution of national policy in this regard. Coking coal being absolutely essential was first taken over urgently and later on the management of the entire coal industry was taken over. Finally, the ownership of all the coal mines including coking coal mines was vested in the Central Government and in certain instrumentalities created by the Central Government. It is thus clear that the coking coal mines including that of the petitioner remained under the management of the Central Govt. during the period from Oct. 17, 1971 till April 30, 1972 For brevity I shall refer this period as the 'management period'. During this period the ownership of the coking coal mine continued to remain with petitioner No. 1 like all other mine owners, and the Central Government and/or its Custodian managed and worked the said coking coal mine for and on behalf of the owner. The profit and loss of the management period were put to the account of the owner himself.

(3.) I would now refer to some of the relevant provisions of the Nationalisation Act The definition section defines various relevant items. Under Clause (f) thereof "Custodian means the Custodian appointed under subsection (2) of Section 14, to take over, or carry on, the management of a coking coal mine or coke oven plant. Section 14 talks of the authority in which the management etc. of coking coal mines etc. would vest and under Clause (b) of Sub-section (1) thereof the management of coking coal mines or coke oven plant, is to vest in one or more Custodians appointed by the Central Government under Sub-section (2). Clause (j) of Section 3 defines "mine" and in its very exhaustive and comprehensive definition in Sub-clause (xi) it also includes "all other fixed assets, movable or immovable, and current assets, belonging to a mine, whether within its premises or outside." By an explanation appended to this provision it excludes from the purview of Current assets" dues from sundry debtors, loans and advances to other parties and investments, not being investments in the coking coal mine. Chapter III of this Act deals with payment of amount to owners of coking coal mines specified in the First Schedule of the Act. It lays down that the owner of every coal mine(s) shall be given by the Central Government "in cash" and in the manner specified in Section 21, for vesting in it, under Section 4, the right, title and interest of the owner in relation to such coking coal mine or group of coking coal mines, an amount equal to the amount specified against it in the corresponding entry in the fifth column of the said Schedule. The amount mentioned in the fifth column of the said Schedule for payment to the petitioners is Rs. 74,000/-. There is no dispute with respect to this amount. Section 12 contemplates payment of some further amounts to the mine owner in consideration of the retrospective operation of the taking over besides some interest. There is no dispute in this regard either.