SANJEEV COKE MANUFACTURING COMPANY BHARAT COKING COAL LIMITED Vs. BHARAT COKING COAL LTD:SANJEEV COKE MANUFACTURING COMPANY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN these cases, Sanjeev Coke Manufacturing Co. and Sunil Kumar Ray, representing the Bhowra Coke Company question the nationalisation of the Coke Oven Plants belonging to them.

(2.) THE history of the legislation concerning the take-over of the Management and the Nationalisation of Coal Mines has been set out in some of the earlier judgments of this Court (Tara Prasad Singh v. Union of India), (1980) 3 SCR 1042 and it is not necessary for us to recall here that history in any great detail. THE Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1971, the Coking Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1972, the Coal Mines (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1973, and the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 were respectively enacted in that order.

(3.) IN order that the ground may straightway be cleared, we must mention here that in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. v. P. K. Agarwala, (1979) 3 SCC 609. Krishna Iyer and A. P. Sen, JJ. considered the definitions of "Mine" and "coke oven plant" in the Coking Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 and expressed the view, wrongly in our opinion, that 'Coking Coal Mine' did not include a 'coke oven plant'. The learned Judges appear to have thought that there was a dichotomy between the word 'mine on the one hand and the words 'coke oven plant' on the other and that was why separate provision was made in the same Act for the nationalisation of mines and coke oven plants. The learned Judges observed :