Appeal Nos 252 and 253 of 1958
Appeals by Certificate and special leave from the judgment and order dated August 5 1955 of the former Andhra High Court in Writ Appeal No 13 of 1955
AND VICE VERSA D Narsaraju Advocate General for the State of Andhra Pradesh D Parsanna Kumari P V R Tatachari and P D Menon for the appellant In C A No 252 of 58 and Respondent No 1 In C A NQ 253 of 58
175 P Ram Reddy for the the appellants In C A No 253 of 58 and Respondent No 1 to 3 In C A No 252 of 58
A V Vishwanatha Sastri and K R Choudhri for the respondent No 2 In C A No 253 of 58
April 2
WANCHOO J
These are two connected appeals arising out of the same judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court
The main appeal No 252 is by the State of Andhra Pradesh while the other appeal No 253 is by Duvvura Balarami Reddy and others
We shall dispose of them by this common judgment and will hereinafter refer to the State of Andhra Pradesh as the appellant and Duvvuru Balarami Reddy and others at the respondents
The brief facts necessary for present are these
The respondents had filed a writ petition for the issue of a writ in the nature of mandamus or any other ap propriate writ directing the appellant to give permission to the respondents to carry on mica mining operations in survey No491 in the village of Ananthamadugu in Rapur Taluk of Nellore district subject to the respondents executing as agreement in the manner provided under the Mineral Conces sion Rules 1949 hereinafter referred to as the Rules and conforming to the conditions mentioned therein
The case of the respondents was that they had obtained leases for mica mining purposes from various co owners in the shrotriem village of Ananthamadugu on March 24 1952
Thereafter on May 27 1953 this village was notified under the Madras Estates Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari Act No XXVI of 1948 hereinafter referred to as the Act and the interest of the shrotriem owners was taken over by the appellant
The leases granted to the respondents were for a period of one year and one of the terms provided that the lessors were bound to extend and renew the period 176 of lease for such period as may be desired by the lessess subject to the Rules
After the estate was taken over the question arose whether the leases were enforceable against the Government under s20 1 of the Act
In November 1953 the Manager of Estates appointed on behalf of the Government held that the leases were enforceable against the Government
This order was confirmed by the Collector of Nellore
Thereupon there was a revision petition by one of the co owners of the shrotriem who was not a party to the leases before the Board of Revenue
The respondents also applied to the Government for permission to work the mines
The Government however did not grant such permission
The respondents contended that the Government had no right to withheld permission to work the mines
Therefore the writ petition was filed asking for the issue of a writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ directing the appellant to give permission to the respondents to carry on mica mining in accordance with the leases
The petition was opposed on behalf of the appellant and the main contention on its behalf was that the village in question being a shrotriem inam village there was no presumption that the inam grant included the grant of sub soil rights also to the shrotriemdars
Therefore the respondents could not claim any rights higher than these of their lessors
In effect the appellant had contended that the lessors had no rights to the minerals and therefore the leases even if not void within the meaning of s20 of the Act would not confer any rights on the respondents to claim as a matter of right the grant of permission to work the mines from the appellant and that it was entirely within the discretion of the State whether to grant a mining lease or not in accordance with the Rules
It was also stated in that the revision filed before the Board of Revenue had been stayed as the Points 177 raised before the Board were covered by the questions involved in the writ petition
On these pleadings the main question that arose for decision was whether the shrotriemdars had any rights in the minerals at all and were entitled to grant leases thereof If the shrotriemdars had no right in the minerals the grant of lease by them would be of no value and would not entitle the respondents to claim a mining lease under the Rules from the appellant as a matter of right
The learned Single Judge who heard the writ petition came to the conclusion that there was nothing to show that the inam grant in the present case covered the right to minerals
In consequence it was held that the respondents did not get any rights under the said leases to the minerals
The learned Judge then considered the other points raised in the petition with which we are however not concerned and eventually dismissed it
The respondents went in appeal to a Division Bench of the High Court and the appeal court seems to have held on a review of the variousstanding orders of the Board of Revenue of the composite State of Madras that the State was only entitled to impose a royalty on minerals taken out by the shrotriem inamdar
It was pointed out that this seemed to be in accordance with common sense as the grantee is entitled to the surface rights and the grantor to the sub soil rights and as the latter rights can only be exercised by entering upon the surface
it is only natural and just that they should share what is produced by working the mine since one cannot enter upon the land as he has no right to do so and the other cannot work the mine as he has no right to the land
This would seem to suggest that the appeal court held that the sub soil right belonged to the State and not to the inamdars but because of the difficulty that arose on account of 178 the surface rights being in the inamdar and sub soil rights being in the State it apparently head that the inamdar and the Government should share what is produced by working the mine
Finally however the appeal court dismissed the appeal on the ground that the period of one year for which the leases had been granted had expired and the period of renewal which the respondents could get under the Rules also had expired before the decision of the appeal court
It relied in this connection on the decision of this Court in K N Guruswamy vs The State of Mysore 1  but as the respondents had failed on account of the expiry of time they were allowed their costs
This was followed by an application by the State for a certificate which was granted and that is how the State s appeal has come up before us
As for the appeal by special leave by the respondents they contend that the decision being in their favour on the merits the High Court should have ordered the State to grant them a lease even though the period fixed in the original leases and the period of renewal permissible under the Rules had expired
The main question therefore that fails for decision in these appeals is whether shrotriemdars can be said to have rights in the minerals
This matter has been the subject of consideration by the Madras High Court on a number of occasions and eventually the controversy was set at rest by the decision of the Judicial Committee in Secretary of State for India in Council vs Srinivasa Chariar 2 That case came on appeal to the Judicial Committee from the decision of the Madras High Court in the Secretary of State for India in Council vs
Sreenivasa Chariar 3
The controversy before the Madras High Court was with respect to a shrotriem inam which was granted by the Nawab of Carnatic 1  2 1920 LR 48 I A 56
3 Mad
179 in 1750 and had been enfranchised by the British Government in 1862
The inamdar started quarrying stones in the land granted to him and 
the Government claimed that it had a right to levy royalty or seigniorage fee on stones quarried by the inamdar
The inamdar contended on the other hand that an enfranchised inam was exactly
in the same position as a zamindari estate under the permanent settlement and that he was entitled to the entire sub soil rights and the Government was not entitled to levy royalty or seigniorage fee on stones quarried by him
The High Court held that under the terms of the grant the grantor conveyed all that the grantor had in the
soil including sub soil rights and therefore it was not open to the Government to levy any royalty or seigniorage fee on stones quarried by the inamdar
In effect the decision of the High Court negatived the claim of the Government to sub soil rights for the Government could only levy royalty or seigniorage fee if it bad sub soil rights and the inamdar had no such rights
This decision was taken in appeal to the Judicial Committee as already indicated above and the controversy between the parties was that the inamdar claimed a decree establishing his full rights to the said village to the rocks and hills within its boundaries
The State on the other hand while admitting that there had been an inam grant of the village to the inamdar contended that there was no conveyance of the rights to minerals in the village
The Judicial Committee held that the grant of a village in inam might be no more than an assignment of revenue and even where there was included a grant of land what interest in the land pawed must depend on the language of the instrument and the circumstances of each case
The Judicial Committee also considered the standing orders of the Board of Revenue of 1890 and 1907 which have been referred to by the appeal court in 180 the judgment under appeal
This decision thus establishes that the mere fact that a  person is the holde r of an inam grant would not by itself be enough to establish that the inam grant included the grant of sub soil rights in addition to the surface rights and that the grant of sub soil rights would depend upon the language used in the grant
If there are no words in the grant from which the grant of subsoil rights can be properly inferred the inam grant would only convey the surface rights to the grantee and the inam grant could not by itself be equated to a complete transfer for value of all that was in the grantor
In particular the Judicial Committee stressed the use of the words the produce of the seasons each year used in the grant to show that only the surface rights were granted in that case
It is not disputed that eversince the decision of the Judicial Committee in Srinivasa Chariar s case1 that has been the law with respect to sub soil rights of inamdars as distinct from zamindars under
the permanent settlement
The Boards standing orders of 1890 and 1907 to which the appeal court has referred in its judgment were also considered by the Judicial Committee and it is now too late in the day to use them to find out the rights of the inam dars and the Government in the minerals under the soil
As the decision of  the Judicial Committee shows the standing orders of the Board of Revenue themselves show how the views of the Government changed from time to time on this question
 The older view seems to have been that the sub soil rights were in the inamdars but from 1907 at any rate the Government has taken the view that sub soil rights are in the Government unless there is anything in the grant to the contrary
It is this later view which was upheld by the Judicial Committee in Srinivasa Chariar s case1and this view has ever since prevailed as to the rights of the Government in the minerals under the soil in the case of 1 1920 LR48 IA 56
181 inams
We are unable to see bow this decision as to the rights of the Government to the minerals under the soil can be distinguished on the ground that the decision dealt only with the question of royalty
It is obvious that the Government could charge royalty only if it had the right to the minerals under the soil and not the inamdars
What therefore we have to see is whether on the terms of the grant in this case the shrotriemdars can be said to have been granted the sub soil rights also
So far as this matter is concerned here does not seem to have been a serious controversy in the High Court and it does not appear that the respondents contended that under the term of the grant to the shrotriemdars the latter were entitled to sub soil rights
We have already referred to that part of the judgment of the appeal court which suggests that  even the appeal court was of the view that the subsoil rights were in the Government in this case and the surface rights were in the shrotriemdars
The orioinal grant is not available and all that we have is the inam fair register of 1861 and all that is stated in that register is that the grant is for the personal ad vantage of the holder
There is nothing therefore in the inam fair register to show that the grant included the grant of sub soil rights
It is however urged on behalf of the respondents that the grant included Poramboke and from the fact that Poramboke was also included it should be inferred that mere surface rights were not the subject matter of the grant
Reliance in this connection has been placed on the decision of the Judicial Committee in Secretary of State vs Krishna Rao
The dispute in that case related to levy of water cess under the Madras Irrigation Cess Act No
7 of 1865
The Judicial Committee pointed out that the inam grant in that case included not only dry wet and garden land but also poramboke 1 1945 LR 721A 211 182 ie unculturable land
This was held to indicate that full proprietary rights were granted and therefore the Government could not charge any water cess
It is urged for the respondents that this case shows that where poramboke is also granted the grantee gets all the rights including the sub soil rights in full proprietorship
It should however be remembered
that the dispute in that case was whether the inamdar was entitled to free irrigation from water sources lying in the shrotiem village by virtue of the grant or whether the grantor could levy a cess under the Madras Irrigation Cess Act
There was no dispute as to the sub soil rights in that case the dispute being confined to surface rights relating to water
The Government contended in that case that the grant to the inamdar was only of the melvaram or the right of the revenue from the lands
while the respondent s contention was that the grant I carried not only the meraram but also the proprietary interest in the land itself and therefore the Government had no right to levy the irrigation cess
It was in that connection that the Judicial Committee held that the grant of poramboke i e unculturable land was one of the factors that indicated that it was not a mere grant of melvaram but full proprietary right
It is remarkable however that though the Judicial Committee came to the conclusion in that case that full proprietary right had been granted it referred to the earlier decision in Srinivasa Chariar s case during the course of the judgment
This later decision therefore in our opinion cannot be read in such a way as to lay down that wherever poramboke is included in the grant a presumption must be drawn that the inam grant included sub soil rights also all that may be possible to infer by the inclusion of poramboke on the basis of this decision is that all the surface rights were granted and not merely the melvaram as 183 was contended in that case
The fact therefore that in the inam fair register in this case the grant includes poramboke would not by itself  establish that sub soil rights were also included in the grant
So far as sub soil rights are concerned they can only pass to the grantee if they are conferred as such by the grant or if it can be inferred from the grant that sub soil rights were also included therein
We have already remarked that the original grant in this case is not available and we have only the inam fair register to go  by
There can be no doubt therefore on the facts of this case that the learned Single Judge was right in holding that the grant of sub soil rights to shrotriemdars is not established
The appeal court also does not appear to differ from this view of the learned Single Judge
Once the conclusion is reached that sub soil rights were not granted to the shrotriemdars it seems to us that the inference is plain  that it was not open to the shrotriemdars to grant any lease of minerals lying under the soil to any one
Therefore the leases granted by the shrotriemdars to the respondents in this case would be of no legal effect in conveying any right to them in the minerals under the soil
In the circumstances the respondents cannot put forward the leases in their favour to claim a mining leases under the Rules
With respect we have not been able to understand how the difficulty which may arise in practice on account of the sub soil rights being in the Government and the surface rights being in the shrotriemdars in the working of the mines would make the shrotriemdars shares in the sub soil rights and therefore entitled to grant a lease of the sub soil rights
Whatever may have been the practice in the past and howsoever the Government may have been getting over the practical difficulty in the past would not confer any right to the minerals upon the shrotriemdar so as to enable 184 him to grant a mining lease to any one
It follows therefore that the mining leases granted in this case were granted by persons who had no right to the minerals and therefore confer no rights on the respondents to claim at of right from the Government that they should be granted a mining lease under the Rules
In view of the above decision appeal No 252 must be allowed and appeal No 253 must fail
We therefore allow appeal No 252 and setting aside the order of the appeal court dismiss the writ petition with costs to the State throughout
Appeal No 253 is hereby dismissed but in the circumstances parties will bear their own costs
C A No 252 of 1958 allowed
C A No 253 if 1958 dismissed


Summary:
The respondents has obtained leases for mining mica from the owners of a certain shrotriem village for one year with a stipulation that the lessors were bound to renew the leases for such periods as may be desired by the lessees
Shortly there
after the village waseanoified and the estate of the owners was resumed by the appellant
The respondent contended that 174 the appellant was bound to renew the leases
The appellant contended that the shrotriemdars had no right in the minerals that they could not have granted any leases for mining the minerals and that as such no question of renewing the leases arose
Held that shrotriemadras had no rights in the minerals and the leases granted by them to the respondent had no legal effect The mere fact that a person was the holder of an inam grant was not by itself enough to establish that the inam grant included the grant of sub soil rights in addition to surface rights
The grant of sub soil rights depended upon the language used in the grant  if there were no words in the grant from which grant of sub soil rights could be properly inferred it would only convey surface rights to the grantee
The original grant in the present case was not available and the inam fair register did not show that the grant included the grant of sub soil rights
No inference could he drawn of the grant of sub soil rights from the fact that the inam grant included poramboke unculturable land also
The difficulty that may arise in the working of the mines on account of the mines vesting in the state and the surface rights vesting in the shrotriemdars could not make the shrotriemdars co sharers in the sub soil rights so as to entitle them to grant leases of the subsoil rights
Secretary of State for India in Council vs Srinivasa Chariar 1920 L R 48 1
A 56 applied
Secretary of State vs Krishna Rao 1945 L R 72 1
A 21 1 distinguished