D.K.SINHA,J. - (1.) THE petitioners have invoked the inherent jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for quashment of their criminal proceedings in Forest Case No. 232 of 1998 for the alleged offence under Section 33 of the Indian Forest (Bihar Amendment) Act, 1989 and under Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act, pending in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class Giridih in T.R. No. 1385 of 2004.
(2.) THE petitioners had earlier moved before this Court in Cr. Misc. No. 8131 of 1999 R which was disposed of on 11.1.2000 with the liberty to the petitioners to raise all the points before the Court below at the time of explaining the substance of accusation and it was directed to the Court below to pass appropriate order in accordance with law on proper verification of the allegation levelled against them. The learned Counsel Mr. Deepak Kumar submitted that the petitioner No. 4 M/s. Kariya Tari Mica Mining Company Ltd. was a lessee since time immemorial and other petitioners were workers in the said company incorporated under the Company's Act doing mining work within the leasehold area of the company which did not fall within the forest area nor, there was any notification of the Forest Department under Section 30 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 for the relevant year 19.98 of the alleged offence but they were criminally prosecuted on the behest of the Forest Department maliciously.
(3.) THE prosecution case as contained in forest offence submitted by the complainant was that when the prosecution party visited the Pachrukhi protected forest area in course of petrolling on 14.5.1998, mining operation was found to be undertaken by the petitioners and others under the petitioner No. 5 Kariya Tari Mica Mining Company within Thana No. 96, police station Gawan in plot No. 3 which was notified under Section 30 of Indian Forest Act vide CPF 10152/52 -R 5802 dated 27.12.1952 and it was alleged that the mining operation was undertaken after cleaning the land within forest area which also constituted an offence. It was assessed that about 40 decimals of lands were encroached upon by the petitioners in the illegal mining.;