Chapter XIV MISCELLANEOUS

Save as otherwise provided elsewhere in this Act, the provisions or this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force in the State or in any contract or instrument having effect by virtue of any enactment or in any usage having the force of law in the State and every such law, contract, instrument or usage, as the case may be, shall be, to the extent of the repugnance with this Act, be void and inoperative in the State.

(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of the provisions of this Act or any rule or notification made thereunder. (2) No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the State Government, the competent authority or corporation for any damage, loss or injury caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to he done in pursuance of any provision of this Act or of any rule or notification made thereunder.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no civil court shall have jurisdiction in respect of any action taken or proposed to be taken by the authority in. pursuance of any power conferred by or under, this Act.

Any prospecting licence or mining lease granted, renewed or acquired in contravention of the provision or this Act or any rule or order made thereunder shall be void and or no effect Explanation : Where a person has acquired more then one prospecting licence or mining lease in the State and the aggregate area covered by such licences or lessees as the case may be, exceeds the maximum area permissible under Section 7,only that Prospecting licence or mining lease, the acquisition of which has resulted in such maximum area being exceeded shall be deemed to be void.

Where any person trespasses into any land in contravention of the provisions of Sub-section (1) of Section 3, such trespassers may be served with an order of eviction by the State Government, or any authority empowered in this behalf by that Government and the State Government or such authorised officer may, if necessary, obtain the help of police to evict the trespassers form the land.

(1) The State Government may, by notification, authorise any officer by name or by virtue of office to enter and search any place where he has reason to believe that any mineral oil is being prospected, transported, stored, produced otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder, and to seize, detain or remove any or all of the petroleum in respect of which, in his opinion, an offence under this Act has been committed. (2) The provisions of law for the time being in force in the State relating to Search and seizure shall, so far as they are applicable, apply to the searches and seizures by officers authorised under this Section. (3) The State Government may make rules regulating the procedure of authorised officers in the exercise of their powers under this Section subject, however, to the provisions of Sub-section (2)

(1) Whenever any person raises, without any authority, any mineral from any land and for that purpose brings on the land any tool, equipment, vehicle or other thing, such mineral tool, equipment, vehicle or other thing shall be liable to be seized by a Magistrate or other authority specially empowered by the State Government in this behalf, (2) Whenever any person raises, without any lawful authority, any mineral from any land, the State Government may recover from such person the mineral so raised or, where such mineral has already been disposed of, the price thereof, and may also recover from such person, rent, royalty, or tax as the case he, for the period during, which the land was occupied by such person without any lawful authority.

(1) For the purpose of ascertaining the position of the working, actual or prospective, of any mine or abandoned mine or for any other purpose connected with this Act or the rules made thereunder, any person authorised by the State Government in this behalf, by general or special order, may:- (a) enter and inspect any mine or abandoned mine; (b) survey and take measurements in mine; (c) weigh measure or take measurement of the stocks of minerals lying at any mine; (d) examine any document, book register or record in the possession or power of any person having the control, of, or connected with, any such mine and place marks of identification thereon, and take extracts from or make copies of such document, book, register or record; (e) order the production of any such document book, register or record as is referred to in clause (d, and f) (f) examine any person having the control of or connected with any such mine (2) Every person authorised by the State Government under Sub- section (1) shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and every person to whom an order or summon issued by virtue of the powers conferred by Clause (e) or Clause (f) of that Sub-section shall be legally bound to comply with such order or summons, as the case may be.

(1) Any rent, royalty, tax, fee, cess or other sum due to the State Government either under this Act or any rule made thereunder or under the terms and conditions of any prospecting licence or mining lease may, on a certificate of such officer as may be specified by the State Government in this behalf by general special order, be recovered in the same manner as if it were a public demand and every such sum, which becomes due to the Government after the appointed day, together with the interest due thereon, shall be a first charge on the assets of the holder of the prospecting licence or mining lease, as the case may be.

(1) The State Government may, by notification, direct that any power exercisable by it under this Act may, in relation to such matters and subjects to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the notification, be exercisable also by such officer or authority subordinate to the State Government. (2) Any rule made under this Act may confer powers and impose duties or authorise the conferring of powers and imposition of duties upon any officer or authority subordinate to the State Government.

(1) Every rule and every notification made by the State Government under this Act shall be laid. as soon as may be after it is made before the Legislative Assembly of the State while it is in session for a total period of seven days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or successive sessions aforesaid, the Legislative Assembly makes any modification in the rule or notification or decides that the rule or notification should not be made, the rule or notification shall have effect thereafter only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or notification.

All rules made or purporting to have been made under any enactment made by Parliament before the commencement of the Constitution (Thirteenth Amend-ment) Act, 1962, that is the first day of December. 1963, shall, in so far as they relate to matters for which provision is made in this Act and are not inconsistent therewith, be deemed to have been made under this Act as if this Act had been in force on the day on which such rules were made and shall continue in force unless and until they are superseded by any rule made under this Act:

The State Government may, of its own motion or on application made within the prescribed time by an aggrieved party, revise any order made by it or any authority subordinate to it in exercise of the power conferred on it by or under this Act

The State Government may, if it is of opinion that in the interests of mineral development in the State it is necessary so to do, by an order, in writing, and for reasons to be recorded, authorize, in any case, the grant, renewal or transfer of any prospecting licence or mining lease or working of any mine for the purpose of searching for or winning any mineral on terms and conditions different from those laid down in the rules made under Section 15.

All acts of executive authority done, proceeding taken and sentences passed under any enactment made by Parliament on or before the first day of December, 1963, and in force immediately before the appointed day with respect to the regulation of mines and development of minerals in the State by Government or by any officer of the Government or by any other authority, in the belief or purported belief that the acts, proceedings or sentences were being done, taken or passed under the said enactment, shall be as valid and operative as if they had been done, taken or passed in accordance with law and no suit or other legal proceedings shall be maintained or continued against any person whatsoever on the ground that any such act, proceeding or sentence were not done, taken or passed in accordance with law.

Any rule made under this Act may provide that it shall have effect from such earlier or later date, not being a date earlier than the commencement of provisions under which the concerned rule is made. Provided that no person shall be prosecuted or punished for anything done at any time prior to the date on which the rules so made were first published in the Official Gazette.