Jharkhand High Court
Dev Prasad Mandal vs The State Of Jharkhand on 5 April, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
(Criminal Writ Jurisdiction)
W.P. (Cr.) No. 328 of 2022
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Dev Prasad Mandal, son of Niranjan Mandal, resident of village Mohulia,
PO Mohulia, PS Galudih, District East Singhbhum ...... Petitioner
Versus
1.The State of Jharkhand
2.Mining Inspector, District Mining Office, East Singhbhum near Circuit
House Area, PO and PS Bistupur, Town Jamshedpur, District East
Singhbhum
3.Officer in Charge, Galudih Police Station, PO and PS Galudih, Town
Jamshedpur, District East Singhbhum ...... Respondents
With
W.P. (Cr.) No. 340 of 2022
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Naba Kishore Singhdeo, son of late Ishwari Prasad Singhdeo, resident of
Haribhanja, PO and PS Kharswan, District Seraikella Kharswan
...... Petitioner
Versus
1.The State of Jharkhand
2. Circle Officer, Kharswan, PO and PS Kharswan, District Seraikella
Kharswan ...... Respondents
With
W.P. (Cr.) No. 511 of 2022
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Pintu Mandal @ Subrata Mandal, son of Sri Niranjan Mandal, resident of
village Pat Mohulia, PO Mohulia, PS Galudih, District East Singhbhum
...... Petitioner
Versus
1.The State of Jharkhand
2.Mines Inspector, District Mines Office, East Singhbhum near Circuit
House Area, PO and PS Bistupur, Town Jamshedpur, District East Singbhum
3.Officer in Charge, Galudih Police Station, PO and PS Galudih, Town
Jamshedpur, District East Singhbhum
4.Assistant Sub Inspector, Galudih Police Station, PO and PS Galudih,
District East Singhbhum ...... Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RATNAKER BHENGRA
For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. Shankar Lal Agarwal, Advocate
Ms. Ayushi, Advocate
[in all cases]
For the State : Mr. Devesh Krishna, SC Mines III
[in WP (Cr.) nos. 328 of 2022 and 340 of 2022]
Dr. (Mrs.) Vandana Singh, Sr.SC III
[in WP (Cr.) no. 511 of 2022]
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2 WP (Cr.) Nos. 328, 340, 511 of 2022
ORDER
05th April 2023
Per, Shree Chandrashekhar, J.
The petitioners in these writ petitions are seeking quashing of
the First Information Report lodged under different provisions of the Indian
Penal Code, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957,
Jharkhand Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2004 and Jharkhand Minerals
(Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2017.
2. The only ground on which these writ petitions are founded is
that only upon a complaint a case can be lodged for committing offence
under different provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and
Regulation) Act, 1957, Jharkhand Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2004
and Jharkhand Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and
Storage) Rules, 2017.
3. Dr. (Mrs.) Vandana Singh, the learned Sr. SC III refers to the
provisions under sections 156(3), 190, 200 and 204 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure together with section 22 of the Mines and Minerals (Development
and Regulation) Act, 1957 to submit that there is no legal bar in registration
of a First Information Report alleging contravention of and commission of
the offence under different provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Mines and
Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, Jharkhand Minor
Mineral Concession Rules, 2004 and Jharkhand Minerals (Prevention of
Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2017.
4. To support this submission, Dr. (Mrs.) Vandana Singh, the
learned Sr. SC III has referred to paragraph no. 21 of the judgment in
"Jayant v. State of M.P." (2021) 2 SCC 670, which reads as follows:
"21. After giving our thoughtful consideration in the matter, in the
light of the relevant provisions of the MMDR Act and the Rules made
thereunder vis-à-vis the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Penal
Code, and the law laid down by this Court in the cases referred to
hereinabove and for the reasons stated hereinabove, our conclusions
are as under:
21.1. That the learned Magistrate can in exercise of powers under
Section 156(3) of the Code order/direct the In-charge/SHO of the
police station concerned to lodge/register crime case/FIR even for the
offences under the MMDR Act and the Rules made thereunder and at
this stage the bar under Section 22 of the MMDR Act shall not be
attracted.
21.2. The bar under Section 22 of the MMDR Act shall be attracted
only when the learned Magistrate takes cognizance of the offences
under the MMDR Act and the Rules made thereunder and orders
issuance of process/summons for the offences under the MMDR Act
and the Rules made thereunder.
21.3. For commission of the offence under IPC, on receipt of the
police report, the Magistrate having jurisdiction can take cognizance
of the said offence without awaiting the receipt of complaint that may
be filed by the authorised officer for taking cognizance in respect of
violation of various provisions of the MMDR Act and the Rules made
thereunder.
21.4. That in respect of violation of various provisions of the MMDR
Act and the Rules made thereunder, when a Magistrate passes an order
under Section 156(3) of the Code and directs the In-charge/SHO of the
police station concerned to register/lodge the crime case/FIR in
respect of the violation of various provisions of the Act and the Rules
made thereunder and thereafter after investigation the In-charge of the
police station/investigating officer concerned submits a report, the
same can be sent to the Magistrate concerned as well as to the
authorised officer concerned as mentioned in Section 22 of the MMDR
Act and thereafter the authorised officer concerned may file the
complaint before the learned Magistrate along with the report
submitted by the investigating officer concerned and thereafter it will
be open for the learned Magistrate to take cognizance after following
due procedure, issue process/summons in respect of the violations of
the various provisions of the MMDR Act and the Rules made
thereunder and at that stage it can be said that cognizance has been
taken by the learned Magistrate.
21.5. In a case where the violator is permitted to compound the
offences on payment of penalty as per sub-section (1) of Section 23-A,
considering sub-section (2) of Section 23-A of the MMDR Act, there
shall not be any proceedings or further proceedings against the
offender in respect of the offences punishable under the MMDR Act or
any Rules made thereunder so compounded. However, the bar under
sub-section (2) of Section 23-A shall not affect any proceedings for the
offences under IPC, such as, Sections 379 and 414 IPC and the same
shall be proceeded with further."
5. Faced with the aforesaid legal position, Mr. Shankar Lal
Agarwal, the learned counsel for the petitioner(s) in these writ petitions
seeks permission to withdraw these petitions with liberty to raise the
aforesaid ground at an appropriate stage, if necessary.
6. Accordingly, WP(Cr.) No. 328 of 2022, WP(Cr.) No. 340 of
2022 and WP(Cr.) No. 511 of 2022 are dismissed as withdrawn.
(Shree Chandrashekhar, J.)
(Ratnaker Bhengra, J.)
High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi
Dated: 05th April 2023
Tanuj/
NAFR
