- (1.) P.C. The petitioner, by means of the instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, has called in question the demand notice dated 25 October 2017, issued by the Additional District Magistrate (F&R), Kanpur Nagar, whereby he has been directed to deposit a sum of Rs. 54,12,960/- in the District Mineral Foundation Trust, Kanpur (for short, 'the Trust'), established vide Government notification dated 25 April 2017 and governed by the District Mineral Foundation Trust Rules, 2017 (for short, 'Rules, 2017").
(2.) The challenge raised to the impugned demand notice is solely on the ground that, under any circumstances, the holder of a mineral concession/permit under the Rules, 2017 is liable to pay to the Trust, only an amount which is equivalent to 10 percent of "royalty" and not of the "bid amount" and, therefore, the demand raised (i.e. 10 percent of the bid amount) is illegal and deserves to be set aside. In support of this contention, counsel for the petitioner drew our attention to the relevant provisions in the Rules, 2017 and the provisions of Section 9-B of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 (for short, "the Act, 1957") and to sub-section (5) thereof in particular.
(3.) The Rules, 2017 are made in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of Sections 9-B, 15 and 15-A of the Act, 1957 for regulating the composition and functions of the District Mineral Foundation Trusts, established vide Government notification dated 25 April 2017 and prescribing the manner for carrying development activities in the affected areas of mining activities. The relevant Rule for our purpose is Rule 10, which deals with contribution to the Trust-fund. This Rule is divided into two parts. Sub-Rule (1) provides for contribution to the Trust-fund in case of major minerals and sub-section (2) in case of mineral minerals. We are concerned with sub-rule (2) of Rule 10 of the Rules, 2017, which reads thus: "(2) In case of minor minerals- The holder of every mineral concession/permit shall in addition to the royalty, pay to the Trust of the district in which the mining operations are carried on, an amount which is equivalent to 10% of royalty or as may be prescribed by the State Government from time to time.";