(1) Unless it is otherwise expressly provided by the terms of the grant made by the Government, the right to all minerals at whatever place found, whether on surface or underground, including all derelict or working mines and quarries, old dumps, pits, fields, bandhas, nallas, creeks, river-beds and such other places, is and is hereby declared to be expressly reserved and shall vest in the 51[***] Government which shall have all powers necessary for the proper enjoyment of such right:
Provided that nothing in this Code shall be deemed to affect any subsisting rights of any person in respect of such mines or minerals in his land.
(2) The right to all mines and quarries includes the right of access to land for the purpose of mining and quarrying and the right to occupy such other land as may be necessary for purposes subsidiary thereto, including the erection of offices, workmen's dwellings and machinery, the stacking of minerals and deposit of refuse, the construction of roads, railways or tram-lines, and any other purposes which the Government may declare to be subsidiary to mining and quarrying.
(3) If the Government has assigned to any person the right over any minerals, mines or quarries, and if, for the proper enjoyment of such right, it is necessary that all or any of the powers specified in sub-sections (1) and (2) should be exercised, the Collector may, by an order in writing, subject to such conditions and reservations as he may specify, delegate such powers to the person to whom the right has been assigned:
Provided that no such delegation shall be made until notice has been duly served on all persons having rights in the land affected, and their objections have been heard and considered.
(4) If, in the exercise of the right herein referred to over any land, the rights of any person are infringed by the occupation or disturbance of the surface of such land, the Government or its assignee shall pay to such persons compensation for such infringement and the amount of such compensation shall, in the absence of agreement, be determined by the Collector or, if his award is not accepted, by the civil court, in accordance with the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
(5) No assignee of the Government shall enter on or occupy the surface of any land unless compensation has been determined and tendered to the persons whose rights are infringed:
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Provided that it shall be lawful for the Collector to grant interim permission pending the award of the civil court it cases where the question of determining the proper amount of compensation is referred to such court under sub-section (4).
(6) If an assignee of the Government fails to pay compensation as provided in sub-section (4), the Collector may recover such compensation from him on behalf of the persons entitled to it, as if it were an arrear of land revenue.
(7) Any person who without lawful authority extracts, removes, collects, replaces, picks up or disposes of any mineral from working or derelict mines, quarries, old dumps, fields, bandhs (whether on the plea of repairing or construction of bunds of the fields or on any other plea), nallas, creeks, river-beds, or such other places wherever situate, the right to which vests in the 52[***] Government, and has not been assigned by the Government, shall, without prejudice to any other mode of action that may be taken against him, be liable, on the order in writing of the Collector, to pay penalty not exceeding a sum determined at three times the market value of the minerals so extracted, removed, collected, replaced, picked up or disposed of, as the case may be:
Provided that, if the sum so determined is less than one thousand rupees, the penalty may be such larger sum not exceeding one thousand rupees as the Collector may impose.
(8) Without prejudice to the provision in sub-section (7), the Collector may seize and confiscate any mineral extracted, removed, collected, replaced, picked up or disposed of from any mine, quarry or other place referred to in sub-section (7), the right to which vests in the 53[***] Government and has not been assigned by the Government.
(9) The Government may make rules to regulate the extraction and removal of minor minerals required by inhabitants of a village, town or city for their domestic, agricultural or professional use on payment of fees or free of charge, as may be specified in the rules.
Explanation:— For the purposes of this section, “minor minerals” means the minor minerals in respect of which the Government is empowered to make rules under section 15 of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957.
Of Encroachment on Land