tition Nos 1311 1269 70 1113 1109 1479 1480 924 925 1478 1250 1251 1219 926 927 1072 1076 1565 1652 1654 1434 1435 1648 1306 1310 13121314 1590 1591 1588 1589 of 1979 and 400 192 448 and 462 of 1980
Under Article 32 of the Constitution A K Sen and section K Sinha for the Petitioners in WP Nos
1306 131479 1434 1113 1109 1250 1251 1219 1072 1076 1565 1652 1654 143579 and 19280
588 K N Choubey and A K Srivastava for the Petitioners in WP Nos
1269 1270 1590 1591 1588 1589 924 925 926 92779
M P Jha for the Petitioners in WP 164879
A K Ganguli for the Petitioner in WP Nos
1479 148079
Arun Madan for the Petitioners in WP No 4080
section N Jha for the Petitioners in WP No 48880
K N Choubey and Mukul Mudgal for the Petitioners in WP 46280
Lal Narain Sinha Att
Genl M K Banerjee Addl
Sol 
Genl and Miss A Subhashini for the Respondent Union of India Central Coal Fields Easter Coal Field in WP
1307 1310 1312 1314 and Respondent 3 in WP Nos
13081588 1589 1434 1072 107679
Lal Narain Sinha Att
and U P Singh for the Respondents State of Bihar and Its officials in WP Nos
1588 89 1434 1109 924 925 1250 1251 926 927 1219 1250 1251 1072 1290 91 1648 1479 80 1073 1074 156579 and 400 192 488 and 46280
Lal Narain Sinha Att
and Rathin Dass for the Respondents West of Bengal in WP Nos
1306 1314 1073 107479
P K Chatterjee for the State of West Bengal in WP 107279
A K Srivastava for the CaveatorRespondent No 4 in WP Nos
1652 1654 of 1979
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KRISHNA IYER J
Survival after death  is the expression that aptly describes these writ petitions relating to coal mining by private agencies long after a prohibitory legislation and an order by this Court repelling the challenges to the vires of that Act
Parliament by the Coal Mines Nationalisation Amendment Act 1976 Act No LXVII of 1976 For short the 1976 Act totally prohibited all mining of coal save by instrumentalities set out in section 3 sub section 3 which we may excerpt here 3 on and from the commencement of Section 3 of the Coal Mines Nationalisation Amendment Act 1976 a no person other than i the Central Government or a Government company or a corporation owned managed or controlled by the Central Government or 589 ii a person to whom a sub lease referred to in the proviso to cl
c has been granted by any such Government company or corporation or iii a company engaged in the production of iron and steel shall carry on coal mining operation in India in any form b excepting the mining leases granted before such commencement in favour of the Government company or corporation referred to in clause a and any sub lease granted by any such Government company or corporation all other mining leases and sub leases in force immediately before such commencement shall in so far as they relate to the winning or mining of coal stand terminated c no lease for winning or mining coal shall be granted in favour of any person other than the Government company or corporation referred to in clause a 
Provided that the Government company or corporation to whom a lease for winning or mining coal has been granted may grant a sublease to any person in any area on such terms and conditions as may be specified in the instrument granting the sub lease if the Government company or corporation is satisfied that i the reserves of coal in the area are in isolated small pockets or are not sufficient for scientific and economical development in a coordinated and integrated manner and ii the coal produced by the sub lease will not be required to be transported by rail
It is obvious that the provision is peremptory and the prohibition is mandatory because there is punishment provided for contravention of that provision
Section 41 of the 1976 Act makes a breach of section 33 punishable with imprisonment
This broad spectrum ban in law arrested the extraction of coal and was naturally assailed as ultra vires by the managements themselves in writ petitions under article 32
A bench of seven judges of this court heard erudite and elaborate arguments at the end of which the writ petitions were dismissed
But it is not unusual for many litigants even though vanquished to argue still 
Here however the challenge and challenger are of different colour
For the petitioners before us 590 claim to be workmen who are thrown out of employment on account of the 1976 Act and lament in this Court that they are discriminated against and on that score the law is violative of article 14 of the Constitution
The plea put forward is that in regard to nationalised coal mines the workmen are taken care of and their benefits assured while in regard to coal mines where mining is prohibited by section 33 of the 1976 Act the workmen are left in the cold
This is stated to be discrimination between workmen and workmen thus contravening the mandate of equality before the law
Maybe the writ missiles of the managements proved damp squibs but the workers undaunted by that rebuff want to try a new weapon of ultra vires
The coal will go to the employers and the wages to the workers
The Union of India resists this relief and contends that the writ petitioners are mere reincarnations of the old managements which have fought and lost and are masquerading as workmen so as to facilitate a second challenge
The State asserts that clandestine coal mining mafia having been stopped these racketeers are playing the maricha game through bogus workers in tears
Without going into the merits of this averment we may state that every other conceivable objection to the validity of the 1976 Act and other sister enactments had been urged in vain before the seven judges  bench
Now the alleged workmen are complaining of discriminatory denial of benefits to one class of workers
The Union of India counters this plea as factually a ruse for clandestine mining operations by management and legally a second battle after the legal Waterloo hoping against hope that there is nothing to lose in a gamble
Even if a spell of stay were got the gain will outweigh possible losses in litigation
Indeed the State s contention is that considerable losses to Government and traumatic consequences on the nation are being daily inflicted by such clandestine operations
The whole mischief contemplated by the 1976 Act is being continued under the guise of invalidity of the legislation and alternatively by going to court and getting receivers appointed so that a legal colour is imparted to lawless depradations
It is true that nationalisation of coal as a policy has been evolved over the seventies
In the beginning the management of coal mines was taken over and at a later stage ownership itself vested in the Union of India by virtue of ownership of all coal mines is the simple and incontrovertible fact emerging from the bunch of legislation we have been taken through
We are not going into the catena of enactments and their sequence covering this question because they are being discussed in greater detail and fuller depth in the comprehensive judgment where reasons have yet to be given but the result by way 591 Of brief order has already been announced
Suffice it to say that the 1976 Act totally prohibits working of any coal mines by any agency other than those which have been set out in section 33
Surely there is authority for the managements under whom the present petitioners are alleged to be workmen to operate coal mines in the face of the prohibition in the 1976 Act
There is a point of dispute raised by the Union of India that the managements which have come up before this Court do not have even leases under the 
This is controverted by the other side but we may side step that issue because it is not essential for the decision of this case
For one thing no such lease is before us
For another what is relied on in some cases is hukumnamas which cannot do duty for leases
Even granting leases and their renewal by the State itself as is asserted in a few cases the grown and force of the law stand four square between the mines and extraction of coal by any but the agencies specified in s33 of the 1976 Act
It is common ground that there is no specification of the coal mines in question in the schedule to the nationalisation legislation of 1973 nor is there any specific notification relating thereto
Investigation by the State or intimation by the private managements are obligatory under the appropriate legislation and in the absence of any intimation none has been produced before us we have to presume that these are no such coal mines as are set up before us
What apparently has been done it at all is to do what has been described as scratching that is surface mining of coal bearing areas destructive of the natural resources of the nation without any thought for the morrow and without any reference to the planned phased programme of exploitation of coal for the benefit of the country in the public sector
We are satisfied that on the materials placed before us in all these cases the mines if any are illicitly being operated there being no sanction of the law
It is precisely to prevent this mischief of slaughter mining that section 33 was introduced and section 4 was enacted to make the activity punishable
The proscription is comprehensive and the penalty makes it imperative
Once we accept the position that it is not permissible to operate these mines save by those specified in the 1976 statute it necessarily follows that workmen genuine or other cannot claim any fundamental right to work these mines
The prohibition of mining coal except as under section 33 of the 1976 Act is in the public interest and indeed the scheme shows that wherever public interest requires exploitation of coal mines it has been permitted in the public sector and even in the private sector so far as certain specified industries such as iron and steel industries are concerned
The ban is part of a 592 national policy conceived for conservation of a vital national resource and the wisdom of the regulation of fuel sources and their planned user is beyond argument
therefore the language of section 33 is express explicit and admits of no exception
An aware court will not relax when the language is peremptory the legislation is charged with a critical purpose and even the commiserative cause of workmen not wolves in sheep s clothing
as is asserted cannot override the larger cause of the nation
No nation no workmen Assuming for a moment that the private managements are as Dr Chitale and Shri A K Sen urged deemed custodians within the scheme of the legislative take over they are necessarily to operate oh behalf and under the direction of the Central Government
Here is the Central Government protesting as stridently as it can against the mining operations by the alleged mine owners
Both the State and Central Governments are making common cause and demand that no deemed custodian need  work any mine on their behalf
How can a surrogate custodian exceed the command of the principal to stop mining  The whole case of the Union of India is that a clandestine cluster a sort of coal mafia which may even have got sham registers of workmen is defying Government and extracting coal on the sly
It is audacious for the dubious managements under whom the petitioner are supposed to be innocent workmen to represent to the court that they are deemed custodians  working on behalf of the Central Government
Nor are we prepared to accept the naive case that the petitioners  employers can be regarded as deemed custodians under section section We may read s 
S of the Coal Mines nationalisation Act 1973
Power of Central Government to direct vesting of rights in a Government company 1 Notwithstanding anything contained in Sections 3 and 4 the Central Government may if it is satisfied that a Government company is willing to comply or has complied with such terms and conditions as that Government may think fit to impose direct by an order in writing the right title and interest of an owner in relation to a coal mine referred to in Section 3 shall instead of continuing vest in the Central Government vest in the Government company either on the date of publication of the direction or on such earlier or later date not being a date earlier than the appointed day as may be specified in the direction
593 2 Where the right title and interest of an owner in relating to a coal mines vest in a Government company under sub section 1 the Government company shall on and from the date of such vesting be deemed to have become the lessee in relation to such coal mine as if a mining lease in relation to the coal mine had been granted to the Government company and the period of such lease shall be the entire period for which such lease could have been granted under the Mineral Concession Rules and all the rights and liabilities of the Central Government in relation to such coal mine shall on and from the date of such vesting be deemed to have become the rights and liabilities respectively of the Government company
3 The provisions of sub section 2 of section 4 shall apply to a lease which vests in a Government company as they apply to a lease vested in the Central Government and references therein to the Central Government shall be construed as references to the Government company
D The notification required under section 5 authorising the mine to be worked is admittedly absent
No such notification exists or has been hinted at or is existing
In the absence of the relevant notification contemplated by section 5 it is impossible to postulate deemed custodianship 
There are scheduled mines or notified mines under the scheme of statutory management in the Management Take over Act
Notifications are a sine sua non for custodian ship actual or deemed and absent such notification taking over management no private agency can self style itself as deemed custodian
It follows that on any view of the matter the managements other than those specified under section 33 of the 1976 Act can claim to extract coal from any coal mines
If this conclusion is sound as we have demonstrated it is the inference is irresistible that no one can claim to extract coal as a workman although in public interest it is imperative that such operation should stop
We hold that there is no violation of article 14 of the Constitution vis a vis is the workmen concerned assuming them to be real workmen
We have grave doubts about the veracity of this piece of workmanship that the petitioner and others of their ilk are actual not imaginary
Anyway after the dismissal of the managements  writ petitions the argument that the Act impugned is ultra vires vis a vis workmen is a daring legal workmanship
If a larger bench of this Court has already upheld the vires of a statute the discovery of a new argument cannot invalidate that decision
That proposition will make the binding effect of precedents read in the light of article 141 a vanishing cream once a novel thought strikes a legal brain
594 The question of discrimination between two classes of workmen hardly arises because one set of mines has been closed down validly
If the closure is valid no one employed there has a right to force it open on the score of discrimination
Denial of lay off or other benefits belong to a different jurisdiction
If any workmen are really aggrieved that their interests are not protected and that their future is in jeopardy it is certainly open to them to make representation to the Central Government for consideration of their lot and certainly a welfare State will give due consideration for such representation if it is satisfied that he grievance is genuine
We dismiss the Writ Petition with costs
It has been mentioned on more than one occasion in this court that interlocutory orders have been passed that Receivers have been appointed by civil courts including High Courts and that working of mines is licitly going on
In the face of the all pervasive statutory prohibition which is peremptory in language and punishable in consequence it is surprising that any Receiver could at all dare to work mines
While we disapprove of that conduct we make it perfectly plain that there will be no more sanction for any receiver or other officer of court to extract coal or coking coal from any mine in India
Section 33 of the 1976 Act being mandatory and having been held constitutional by this Court it is no longer permissible for any court in India to appoint a receiver or otherwise permit extraction of coal or cooking coal
We vacate all interim orders forthwith It may be fair to the learned Attorney General whose hunch we share to state that this wealth of workers writ petitions is a kind of litigative puppetry the illicit mine exploiters being the puppetteers and those who figure as worker petitioners being the puppets
SR Petitions dismissed


Summary:
Dismissing the Writ Petitions the Court  HELD 1
The provision contained in Section 33 of Act LXVII of 1976 is peremptory and the prohibition is mandatory because there is punishment provided for contravention of that provision
Breach of Section 33 is made punishable with imprisonment
The 1976 Act totally prohibits working of any coal mines by any agency other than those which have been set out in Section 33
Surely there is no authority for the managements under whom the present petitioners are alleged to be workmen to operate coal mines in the face of the prohibition of the 1976 Act
Even for granting leases and their renewal by the State itself the frown and force of the law stand four square between the mines and extraction of coal by any but the agencies specified in section 33 of the 1976 Act 589F G 591A B  C 2
Investigation of the State or intimation by the private managements are obligatory under the appropriate legislation and in the absence of any intimation the presumption is that there are no such coal mines as are set up before the Court
What apparently has been done if at all is to do what has been described as scratching  that is surface mining of coal bearing areas destructive of the natural resources of the nation without any thought for the morrow and without any reference to the planned phased programme of exploitation of coal for the benefit of the country in the public sector
The mines if any are illicitly being operated there being no sanction of the law
It is precisely to prevent this mischief of slaugter mining that s33 was introduced and s4 was enacted to make the activity punishable
The proscription is comprehensive and the penalty makes it imperative
When it is accepted that it is not permissible to operate these mines save by those specified in the 1976 statute it necessarily follows that workmen genuine or other cannot claim any fundamental right to work these mines
591D G 3
The prohibition of mining as under section 33 of the 1976 Act is in the public interest and indeed the scheme shows that wherever public interest requires exploitation of coal mines it has been permitted in the public sector and even in the private sector so far as certain specified industries such as iron and steel industries are concerned
The ban is part of a national policy conceived for conservation of a vital national resource and the wisdom of the regulation of 587 fuel sources and their planned user is beyond argument
Therefore the language of section 33 is express explicit and admits of no exception
An aware Court will not relax when the language is peremptory the legislation is charged with a critical purpose and even the commiserative case of workmen not wolves in sheep s clothing cannot override the larger cause of the nation
No nation no workmen
591G H 592A 4
It is audacious for the dubious managements under whom the petitioners are supposed to be innocent workmen to represent to the Court that they are deemed custodians working on behalf of the Central Government
592D E Under section S notifications are a sine qua non for custodianship actual or deemed and absent such notification taking over management no private agency can self style itself as deemed custodian
Therefore the managements other than those specified in section 33 of the 1976 Act can not claim to extract coal from any coal mines
If this be so no one can claim as a workman although in public interest although it is imperative that such operation should stop
593E F 5
There is no violation of Article 14 of the Constitution vis a vis the workmen concerned assuming them to be real workmen
After the dismissal of the management s writ petitions the argument that the Act impugned is ultra vires vis a vis workmen is a daring legal workmanship
If a larger Bench of this Court has already upheld the vires of a statute the discovery of a new argument cannot invalidate that decision
That proposition will make the binding effect of precedents read in the light of article 141 a vanishing cream once a novel thought strikes a legal brain
593F H The question of discrimination between two classes of workmen hardly arises because one set of mines has been closed down validly
If the closure is valid no one employed there has a right to force it open on the score of discrimination
Denial of lay off or other benefits belong to a different jurisdiction
If any workmen are really aggrieved that their interests are not protected and that their future is in jeopardy it is certainly open to them to make representation to the Central Government for consideration of their lot and certainly a welfare State will give due consideration for such representation if it is satisfied that the grievance is genuine
594A B 6
Section 33 of the 1976 Act being mandatory and having been held constitutional by this Court it is no longer permissible for any court in India to appoint a receiver or otherwise permit extraction of coal or cooling coal
594D E