'Mines' under Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act vest in Central Government; ownership immaterial: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently held that any land falling within the definition of expression 'mine' under Section 2(h) of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act of 1973 shall vest absolutely in the Central government irrespective of the ownership of the land [M/S Bharat Coking Coal Limited v. Mahendra Pal Bhatia and Others]..A Division Bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian further noted that under Section 2(h) of the Act, 'mine' shall also include the lands and buildings used solely for the location of management sale or liaison offices or for the residence of officers and staff.The top court was hearing an appeal assailing the order of the Jharkhand High Court which had set aside the eviction orders passed by the District Court under the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973..BackgroundThe property in question was purchased by one Jamini Mohan Majumdar under a registered sale deed dated February 5, 1945. He was described as the Manager of the East Godhur Colliery. On May 1, 1973, the parliament enacted the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973, providing for the acquisition and transfer of the right, title and interest of the owners in respect of coal mines specified in the Schedule.Notably, one of the mines named in the schedule was the coal mine of East Godhur, whose owner was indicated to be East Godhur Colliery Company (Private) Limited. Jamini Mohan Majumdar had sold the property in question to the respondents under four different sale deeds dated January 17, 1984.The Estate Officer, Dhanbad initiated proceedings against the respondents on the ground that they are unauthorised occupants. The eviction order passed on September 18, 1985 by the Estate Officer was set aside by the District Court and the matter was remanded back to Estate Officer to decide.On March 8, 1989, the Eviction Officer dropped the eviction proceedings on the ground that the respondents were authorized occupants. But the said order of the Estate Officer was set aside by the District Court by an order dated August 8, 1990 in an appeal filed by the appellant under Section 9 of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973. But the order of the District Court was set aside by the Jharkhand High Court by an order dated July 17, 1998 and the same was remanded back to the District Court. On September 28, 2000, the District Court passed an order directing eviction of the respondents.On June 20, 2013, single-judge of the High Court had set aside the order of the District Court which was later also confirmed by the Division Bench of the High Court.Aggrieved, the appellant had moved the present appeal before the Supreme Court..Findings of the Supreme CourtThe top court noted that the only question which the Estate Officer, the District Court and the High Court dabbled with, was as to whether the property in the occupation of the respondents and their predecessor in interest was covered by the definition of the expression 'mine' in Section 2(h) of the Nationalisation Act.It was also taken note that the respondents had raised two-fold objections:1. The property was a private property, and did not form part of a 'mine' under the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973. 2. As per the report of the Court Commissioner, there was no mark of any colliery in the disputed land and the said property also did not belong to the company which owned the East Godhur Coal Mine.Rejecting the objections raised by the respondents, the Court noted that Section 3(1) of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973 declared that on the appointed day, i.e. May 1, 1973 (date of enactment), the right, title and interest of the owners in relation to the coal-mines specified in the schedule shall stand transferred to and shall vest absolutely in the Central government free from all encumbrances.The Court also clarified that by virtue of the said provision, all coal-mines are transferred to and vested in the Central government, with the ownership of the land being immaterial.The Bench then relied upon clause (xi) of Section 2(h) of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973, which provides:"(xi) all lands and buildings other than those referred to in sub clause (x), wherever situated, if solely used for the location of the management, sale or liaison offices, or for the residence of officers and staff, of the mine;"With regard to the first objection raised by the respondents, the Court observed that:"As could be seen from clause (xi) of Section 2(h), even the lands and buildings used solely for the location of the management, sale or liaison offices or for the residence of officers and staff were also included in the definition of the word “mine”. Therefore, the contention that the property was the private property of Jamini Mohan Majumdar, and that his occupation as Manager of a colliery was irrelevant, would fall to the ground.".For the second objection, the Bench was of the view that the objection that the land in question was not used as a colliery was irrelevant in view of the fact that clause (xi) of Section 2(h) uses the words 'wherever situated'. Moreover, the sale deed dated February 5, 1995 by which Jamini Mohan Majumdar purchased the property in question also provided that colliery work was allowed to be carried out on the concerned property.Therefore, the Court was of the view that the order of the High Court in favor of the respondents ran contrary to the statutory interpretations of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973.Consequently, the appeal was allowed and the order of the High Court which disallowed the eviction, was set aside..Senior Advocate Anupam Lal Das argued for the appellant.Advocate Shambo Nandy argued for the respondents..[Read Judgment]