Case: Ashok Kumar Lingala Vs. State Of Karnataka

respective areas instead of straying into the adjacent area. 18. We may at this stage advert to another submission made by Mr. Dave that the Director (Mines) could not have stopped the mining operations of the appellant on the basis of what was according to Mr. Dave a frivolous complaint filed by SMIORE that alleged overlapping of the lease areas. He contended that a valid lease having been granted to the appellant after following the requisite formalities and the procedure prescribed under the relevant rules and after proper demarcation of the privately held area that was available for mining, the Director should not have on a sketchy report from the Drawing Section of the Department stopped the mining activities. It was further contented by Mr. Dave that since the mining activity had been stopped under the orders of the Director (Mines), the High Court was in error in not only upholding the said direction but extending their efficacy till such time the dispute between the parties was resolved by the Civil Court.19. The mere pendency of a suit in a Civil Court could not be an impediment for the appellant to start or continue his mining activity, unless there was an injunction restraining - him from doing so. No such injunction has been issued by the Civil Court. That does not, however, mean that the Government or the Director (Mines) for that matter could not in the event of any dispute between the appellant and SIMORE regarding the identity and demarcation of the area leased to both of them direct the appellant to refrain from carrying on the mining activity as an interim measure till such time the issue was sorted out. But once such an interim direction was issued, the authority doing so had to take steps to resolve the dispute. It could not let the dispute fester and result in a stalemate. So also the restraint order could not be continued by the High Court till the dispute was adjudicated upon by the Civil Court. Doing so would amount to one authority making an interim order pending a final order to be made by another. The power to make an interim order is, except where it is specifically taken away by the statute, implicit in the power to make a final order. It is exercised by the authority who has to make the final order or an authority exercising appellate or revisional jurisdiction, against an order granting or refusing an interim order. The exercise of the power implies that - the authority seized of the proceedings in which such an order is made will eventually pass a final order; the interim order serving only as a step in aid of such final order. The law, in our view, does not permit the making of an interim order by one authority or Court pending adjudication of the dispute by another except in the situation mentioned above. Ms. Shenoy was, therefore, right in her submission that the order of restraining mining operation was meant to be a temporary and interim arrangement meant to remain in force only till such time the Director (Mines) examined the issue regarding the alleged overlapping of the area and passed a final order on the subject.20. Ms. Shenoy was, however, unable to justify the restraint order passed by the Director (Mines) in the absence of the report of the Drawing Section which was the sole basis for the order passed by the Director (Mines). If the Drawing Section had indeed undertaken an exercise the same ought to have been disclosed to the High Court and to this Court so that the validity of any such exercise could be examined. Absence of the report said to have been - made by the Drawing Section and non-production of any material indicating the process by which the Drawing Section came to the conclusion that there was overlapping of the two areas, one privately owned and the other belonging to the State, lend support to the submission made by Mr. Dave that the order of restraint passed by the Director was made in haste. We do not, however, propose to dwell any further on this aspect nor do we propose to vacate the interim restraint order issued by the Director on the ground that it was based on material that was tenuous and remained un-substantiated before us. In our opinion the real problem lies in the demarcation of the two areas leased to the appellant on the one hand and SIMORE on the other. As observed earlier the ownership of the areas claimed by both the lessees vests in different owners. So long as the areas leased to them are identifiable on spot by different survey numbers and boundaries, there is no question of any overlapping. The confusion regarding boundaries in turn is a matter the answer to which lies only in a proper demarcation of the areas.21. It was submitted by Mr. Dave that dispute between the appellant and SIMORE has considerably delayed the mining activity of the appellant, and that a direction ought to be issued to the authorities to expedite the process of demarcation. He urged that keeping in view the bad blood generated between the parties it would be more appropriate to entrust the entire process of demarcation and identification of the leased areas to the Geological Survey of India. We, however, see no reason to issue any such direction at this stage. While the appellant may have some apprehensions about the fairness of the officers of the concerned department we do not consider them to be sufficient for us to mistrust the State functionaries in the absence of any material to suggest that there is any real likelihood of bias. That does not mean that the process of identification and demarcation of the area leased to the appellant should not be undertaken by senior level officers of the State Government to ensure that there is no scope for any mischief or miscarriage of justice.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]18. We may at this stage advert to another submission made by Mr. Dave that the Director (Mines) could not have stopped the mining operations of the appellant on the basis of what was according to Mr. Dave a frivolous complaint filed by SMIORE that alleged overlapping of the lease areas. He contended that a valid lease having been granted to the appellant after following the requisite formalities and the procedure prescribed under the relevant rules and after proper demarcation of the privately held area that was available for mining, the Director should not have on a sketchy report from the Drawing Section of the Department stopped the mining activities. It was further contented by Mr. Dave that since the mining activity had been stopped under the orders of the Director (Mines), the High Court was in error in not only upholding the said direction but extending their efficacy till such time the dispute between the parties was resolved by the Civil Court.19. The mere pendency of a suit in a Civil Court could not be an impediment for the appellant to start or continue his mining activity, unless there was an injunction restraining - him from doing so. No such injunction has been issued by the Civil Court. That does not, however, mean that the Government or the Director (Mines) for that matter could not in the event of any dispute between the appellant and SIMORE regarding the identity and demarcation of the area leased to both of them direct the appellant to refrain from carrying on the mining activity as an interim measure till such time the issue was sorted out. But once such an interim direction was issued, the authority doing so had to take steps to resolve the dispute. It could not let the dispute fester and result in a stalemate. So also the restraint order could not be continued by the High Court till the dispute was adjudicated upon by the Civil Court. Doing so would amount to one authority making an interim order pending a final order to be made by another. The power to make an interim order is, except where it is specifically taken away by the statute, implicit in the power to make a final order. It is exercised by the authority who has to make the final order or an authority exercising appellate or revisional jurisdiction, against an order granting or refusing an interim order. The exercise of the power implies that - the authority seized of the proceedings in which such an order is made will eventually pass a final order; the interim order serving only as a step in aid of such final order. The law, in our view, does not permit the making of an interim order by one authority or Court pending adjudication of the dispute by another except in the situation mentioned above. Ms. Shenoy was, therefore, right in her submission that the order of restraining mining operation was meant to be a temporary and interim arrangement meant to remain in force only till such time the Director (Mines) examined the issue regarding the alleged overlapping of the area and passed a final order on the subject.20. Ms. Shenoy was, however, unable to justify the restraint order passed by the Director (Mines) in the absence of the report of the Drawing Section which was the sole basis for the order passed by the Director (Mines). If the Drawing Section had indeed undertaken an exercise the same ought to have been disclosed to the High Court and to this Court so that the validity of any such exercise could be examined. Absence of the report said to have been - made by the Drawing Section and non-production of any material indicating the process by which the Drawing Section came to the conclusion that there was overlapping of the two areas, one privately owned and the other belonging to the State, lend support to the submission made by Mr. Dave that the order of restraint passed by the Director was made in haste. We do not, however, propose to dwell any further on this aspect nor do we propose to vacate the interim restraint order issued by the Director on the ground that it was based on material that was tenuous and remained un-substantiated before us. In our opinion the real problem lies in the demarcation of the two areas leased to the appellant on the one hand and SIMORE on the other. As observed earlier the ownership of the areas claimed by both the lessees vests in different owners. So long as the areas leased to them are identifiable on spot by different survey numbers and boundaries, there is no question of any overlapping. The confusion regarding boundaries in turn is a matter the answer to which lies only in a proper demarcation of the areas.21. It was submitted by Mr. Dave that dispute between the appellant and SIMORE has considerably delayed the mining activity of the appellant, and that a direction ought to be issued to the authorities to expedite the process of demarcation. He urged that keeping in view the bad blood generated between the parties it would be more appropriate to entrust the entire process of demarcation and identification of the leased areas to the Geological Survey of India. We, however, see no reason to issue any such direction at this stage. While the appellant may have some apprehensions about the fairness of the officers of the concerned department we do not consider them to be sufficient for us to mistrust the State functionaries in the absence of any material to suggest that there is any real likelihood of bias. That does not mean that the process of identification and demarcation of the area leased to the appellant should not be undertaken by senior level officers of the State Government to ensure that there is no scope for any mischief or miscarriage of justice.