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2013 DIGILAW 285 (CAL)

Sunil Kumar Das v. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

2013-05-15

JAYANTA KUMAR BISWAS

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Judgment : The Court:-The petitioner in this W P under art.226 of the Constitution of India dated May 8, 2013 is seeking the following principal reliefs:- “(a)A Writ in the nature of Mandamus commanding the respondents their men and agents and representatives not to initiate any action in the pretext of non-authentication of challans in future. (b)A Writ in the nature of Mandamus commanding the respondents to cause refund of the entire amount collected so far on account alleged nonauthentication of challans together with multiple interest @10% per annum from each date of realisation to till date of payment.” Mr.Ghosh appearing for the petitioner has argued as follows. The authority concerned granted the petitioner a mining lease under the West Bengal Minor Minerals Rules, 2002. The provisions of the West Bengal Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2002 entitle the petitioner to transport minerals using his own challans. But the authorised officer under these rules has been wrongfully asking the petitioner to obtain challans from the officer. Mr.Majumder appearing for the State has submitted as follows. The provisions of the rules prohibit transportation of any extracted mineral by anyone without a valid transit pass issued by the authorised officer under the rules. The word “challan” used in the rules does not mean that one can transport any extracted mineral using one’s own challan. An application for a challan is to be made in a prescribed form and the challan is issued in a prescribed form. The provisions of cls.(g), (l) and (m) of r.2 and rr.3, 4 and 5 of the rules read with Forms A and B appended to the rules clearly lead to the only conclusion that the use of the word “challan” in cl.(g) of r.2, in sub-cls.(2-6) of r.4, in r.5 and in the prescribed forms does not mean that one intending to transport any extracted mineral can transport it using one’s own challan. It is evident from the above-noted provisions of the rules that the word “challan” has been used with a view to clarifying the nature of the document. The provisions of r.3 clearly provide that no person shall transport any mineral by any means without a valid transit pass issued by the competent authority under the rules. It is evident from the above-noted provisions of the rules that the word “challan” has been used with a view to clarifying the nature of the document. The provisions of r.3 clearly provide that no person shall transport any mineral by any means without a valid transit pass issued by the competent authority under the rules. The expression “transit pass” has been defined in cl.(l) of r.2 to mean a pass issued by the officer authorised by the State Government for lawful transportation of any mineral. Clause (g) of r.2 has defined the expression “illegal transportation” to mean transportation of any mineral without any valid “permit/challans” issued by the authorised officer. Clause (1) of r.4 provides that for transportation of any mineral to any place the holder of a mining lease shall make an application in Form A in duplicate to the authorised officer for issue of a transit pass. In Forms A and B, sub-rr.(2-6) of r.4, and also in sub-rr.(2-5) of r.5 both the expressions “transit pass” and “challan” have been simultaneously used without indicating any difference in their nature. It is, therefore, evident that use of the word “challan” at several places of the rules does not mean that the holder of a mining lease can transport the minerals extracted by him to any place on the basis of challans prepared by him in the usual cause of his business. Such challans do not entitle him to transport the minerals. This is because of the clear prohibition put by r.3 of the rules. A holder of a mining lease intending to transport his extracted minerals to any place is under a statutory obligation to apply for a “transit pass/challan” in Form A, and a “transit pass /challan” is to be issued by the authorised officer only in Form B. Hence if any one of the respondents has been permitting the petitioner to transport his extracted minerals from one place to another on the strength of his own challans signed and sealed by that respondent, then both the petitioner and the respondent concerned have been contravening the provisions of the rules. Contravention of the provisions of the rules is punishable. For these reasons, I dismiss the WP. No costs.