Subsisting leases of mines and minerals

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where immediately before the date of vesting of the estate there is subsisting lease of mines or minerals comprised in the estate or any part thereof, the whole or that part of the estate comprised in such lease shall, with effect from the date of vesting, be deemed to have been leased by the State Government to the holder of the said subsisting lease for the remainder of the term of the lease, and such holder shall be entitled to retain possession of the lease-hold property. (2) The terms and conditions of the said lease shall mutatis mutandis be the same as the terms and conditions of the subsisting lease referred to in sub-section (1), but with the additional condition that, if in the opinion of the State Government the holder of the lease had not, before the date of the commencement of this Act, done any prospecting or developing work, the State Government shall be entitled at any time before the expiry of one year from the said date to terminate the lease by giving three month’s notice in writing : Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to prevent any modifications being made in the terms and conditions of the said lease in accordance with the provisions of any Central Act for the time being in force regulating the modification of existing mining lease. (3) The holder of any such lease of mines and minerals as is referred to in sub-section (1) shall not be entitled to claim any damages from the out going Intermediary on the ground that the terms of the lease executed by such Intermediary in respect of the said mines and minerals have become incapable of fulfillment by the operation of this Act.