DELHI MINOR MINERALS RULES, 1969

DELHI MINOR MINERALS RULES, 1969[1]

Rule - 1. Short title and extent and commencement.

(1)     These rules shall be called the Delhi Minor Minerals Rules, 1969.

(2)     They extend to the whole of the Union Territory of Delhi, but the LL Governor may, by order in writing, suspend their operation in whole or in part, in respect of any person, mineral or area.

(3)     These rules shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Delhi Gazette.

Note. Nothing in these rules shall be deemed to affect the provisions of clause (f) of sub-section (1) of Section 7 and sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 9 of the Indian Railways Act, 1890, and Sections 197 and 282 (36) of the Cantonment Act, 1924.

Rule - 2. Definitions.

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,

(a)      "Act" means the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 (Act No. 67 of 1957);

(b)      "Collector" means the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi and includes any officer authorized by him in this behalf;

(c)      "Sub-Inspector of Quarry" means any person appointed by such designation and includes any official authorised to carry out such duties under these rules as the Deputy Commissioner may from time to time require ;

(d)      "Form" means a form appended to these rules ;

(e)      "minor minerals " means building stones, gravel, ordinary clay, ordinary sand other than sand used for prescribed purposes, and any other mineral which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a minor mineral;

(f)       "quarry" means to dig or bore into or under any land or to win, extract or collect therefrom any mineral in any manner;

(g)      "person" includes a Government Department, a Local authority and an institution.

Rule - 3. Prohibition to Quarry Minerals without a permit.

No person shall quarry or cause to be quarried any minor mineral without first obtaining a permit as hereinafter provided.

Rule - 4. Application for permit.

(1)     Every application for a permit to quarry shall be made to the Collector in Form M-l or M-2 as the case may be, and shall be accompanied by a fee of Rs. 10/- and shall contain the following particulars

(a)      Name, parentage and residence of the applicant;

(b)      Name and quantity of the mineral to be quarried ;

(c)      Specific purpose for which the mineral is required;

(d)      Particulars as given in the last Jamabandi/Khatauni of revenue estate regarding the land from which the mineral is to be quarried;

(e)      Period during which quarrying operations will be carried on ;

(f)       A written consent from the land owner.

(2)     Every applicant under sub-rule (1) shall, unless exempted under these rules, be required to deposit in advance the royalty and security at the rates specified in Rule 10.

(3)     A plan of the land showing the exact location and area for which permit is required together with the relevant extract from the Jamabandi/Khatauni and the consent in writing of the owner and occupier, if any, of the land including any Government Department or local authority at the time in possession of the land in question (which may be either in the form of a consent letter if it is privately owned or a lease deed if it belongs to a Government Department or a local authority) shall be attached to the application. The application may be presented personally, through an authorized agent or may be sent by registered post.

Rule - 5. Exemption of Government Departments from Payment of Royalty and Permit Fee.

No fee shall be chargeable on an application by a Government Department having administrative control of the land, but no quarrying shall be done by the Departments without obtaining permission in writing from the Collector. If any mineral so quarried is surplus from use of Government Department and is auctioned or sold by the said department, royalty at usual rate on the quantity so auctioned or sold shall be paid to the Collector.

Rule - 6. Exemption.

The Collector may exempt any person owning any minor minerals from the liability of royalty in case the minor mineral quarried are required for bonafide personal use of such owner and are not either sold by him in the market or transferred in any other manner. The application in such cases shall be made in Form M-1.

Note. When in any record of rights, prepared under the Punjab or Delhi Land Revenue Act, it is not expressly provided that any quarry, land or interest belongs to the land owners, it shall be presumed that it belongs to the Government:

Provided that the presumption may be rebutted by showing :

(a)      from the records or report made by the assessing officer at the time of assessment, or

(b)      if the record or report is silent, then from a comparison between the assessment of village in which there eixsted, and the assessment of the villages of similar character in which there did not exist, any such quarry, land or interest.

That the quarry, land or interest was taken into account in the assessment of the land revenue, and until the presumption is so rebutted the quarry, land or interest shall be held to belong to the Government.

Rule - 7. Grant of Permit.

On receipt of an application, the Collector may make such enquiry as he deems necessary and may either issue a permit in Form M-3 or M-4, as the case may be, or reject the application and the Collector's decision grating or refusing to grant a permit shall be final.

Rule - 8.

(1)     The permit shall be valid only in respect of the material and the area specified therein and shall not entitle the permit holder to quarry a mineral more in quantity than that specified in the permit, and in the area not specified in the permit, or to continue quarrying after the last date mentioned in the permit, provided that the Collector may, on the application of the permit holder under Rule 12 by an order in writing extend the period of any permit or enlarge the area for quarrying.

(2)     No permit-holder shall be allowed

(a)      quarrying at one place in excess of the following dimensions or such lesser dimensions as the Delhi Development Authority in respect of the areas notified as " development areas" under Section 12 (1) of the Delhi Development Act, 1957 and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi or other local body concerned in respect of the areas other than the "development areas", may from time to time fix for any particular area or quarries

(b)      mining operation within thirty meters of public road, water and sewage pipe line, railway line and a public building ;

(c)      blasting operation within sixty meters of the works referred to in clause (b).

(3)     The permit-holder shall at his own expense erect and at all times maintain and keep in good repairs boundary marks and pillars necessary to indicate demarcation of the area in which he is permitted to quarry a minor mineral.

Rule - 9.

Every permit-holder shall comply with such directions as the Delhi Development Authority in respect of the 'development areas' notified under the Delhi Development Act, 1957, or the Municipal Corporation of Delhi or other local body concerned in respect of the areas, other than the "development areas' may from time to time, either generally or for any particular area or quarries, issue under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 or the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 as in force in the Union Territory of Delhi.

Rule - 10. Rates and Royalty.

The permit holder shall pay in advance royalty and security at the rates specified in the schedule appended to these rules :

Provided that in case a Government Department or a local authority sells stone by auction after forming blocks of a hill, the rate of royalty shall be charged on measurement or on a certain percentage of the auction money as the Collector may decide.

Explanation (i) For purposes of calculation of the minerals except brick earth to be quarried one 'Jut' or group of quarrymen comprising of three persons will be assumed to quarry 10 cubic meters per day.

(ii) For the conversion number of bricks obtained from one ton of brick earth the following factor should be used 1000 bricks of standard size to 4 tons of brick earth.

Rule - 11. Conservancy Charged.

The applicant, in addition to the above charges, may be required by the Collector to deposit 0.50 paise per 5 c. meters or part of the mineral quarried on account of sanitary arrangement or other amenities to be provided by a local authority or Government at the quarries and the charges so deposited may be paid by the Collector to the Government Department or the local authority making these arrangements.

Rule - 12. Extension.

If a permit-holder is unable to complete the quarrying operation within the period specified in the permit, he may, at least 10 days before the expiry of the permit, make an application in writing for extension of the period. Every such application shall be accompanied by a fee of Rs. 2/- and the permit sought to be extended.

Provided the Collector may refuse to extend the permit without assigning any reason therefor.

Rule - 13. Accounts of the Permit Holder.

Except in the case of Government department and local authorities the holder of a permit shall keep a clear account of the quantity of minor mineral quarried each day and the quantity of minor minerals removed for sale or use in a register in Form M-5. The accounts shall always be kept at the quarry site and shall be open for check by any officer of the Revenue Department Such officer shall sign and date the permit in token in his check. The permit holder or his authorized agent shall sign in column No. 11 of the said register in token of the correctness of the daily entries.

Rule - [13-A.

Every quarry permit holder shall also issue to each transporter of mineral a slip from the pass book issued to him by the Collector (Mines and Quarries). In that slip besides other information, the date and time of lifting of minerals by the transporter from the quarrying site shall also be recorded.][2]

Rule - 14. Measurement of Sand.

Except in the case of Government department and local authorities, no sand quarried shall be removed from the site till it has been measured by an Officer of Quarrying Department. The measurement so taken shall be recorded on the back of the permit and shall be signed by the said officer, who will also sign the register in Form M-5.

Rule - 15. Return of Permit.

The permit shall be returned to the Collector by the permit holder within one week from the date of its expiry and shall be accompanied by the accounts maintained by him.

Rule - 16. Levelling.

Except in the case of sand, the permit holder may be required to level up the ground within a period of 30 days from the date of expiry of the permit. In case he fails to do so, the Collector may cause the necessary levelling to be done and shall recover the cost thereof as arrears of land revenue from the permit holder or forfeit his security deposit or such part thereof, as he may deem fit.

Rule - 17. Revenue and Police Officials to report Breaches of Rules.

In shall be the duty of every revenue or police official to report any breach of these rules to the Collector.

Rule - 18. Suspension/Removal of Permits.

A permit issued under these Rules is not transferable. The Collector may suspend or cancel the permit for contravention of these Rules or for any breach of any of the conditions of the permit and his order shall be final. However, before an order for cancellation of permit is made, the permit holder shall be given an opportunity to show cause why his permit may not be cancelled.

Rule - 19. Removal of Mineral.

The minor mineral so quarried shall be removed from the site before the date of the expiry of the permit. In case of default the material so quarried shall, in addition to the penalty provided in Rule 20 be liable to be forefeited and such fresh royalty shall be levied as the Collector may determine.

Rule - 20. Penalties.

Whoever contravenes any of the provisions of Rule 3 shall, on conviction, be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees or both :

Provided that for contravention of Rules [3][13, 13-A or 15] the only penalty shall be a fine not exceeding of Rs. 100/-for each offence and for contravention of Rule 19, the penalty may be a fine upto Rs. 10/- per day after the period allowed in the said rule till the date of the removal of the mineral. One of these two days shall not be counted for the purposes of penalty.

Rule - 21. Royalty etc. to be recovered as arrears or Land Revenue.

All sums of royalty, penalty, compensation etc. levied under these Rules shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue.

Rule - 22. Non-deposit of fresh security.

A permit-holder may not be required to deposit fresh security for subsequent permits in the same area, if such permits are not for larger quantity of mineral than that for which the original permit was issued, no breach of the rules has been occasioned, and the security for any part thereof has not been refunded or forefeited.

Rule - 23. Refunds.

If the quantity of mineral quarried is less than that for which the royalty was paid in advance, the permit holder shall be entitled to a refund of the excess on application being made in writing within 15 days from the 'ate of expiry of the permit, to the Collector who after satisfying himself regarding the actual quantity of the mineral quarried, shall refund the difference between the amount of royalty paid and that actually due to Government for the mineral quarried. Such application need not be stamped.

Rule - 24. Royalty etc. how to be accounted for.

(1)     The amount of royalty recoverable in advance shall at once be entered in a running register prescribed in Form M-6 and on recovery from the permit-holder be credited into the treasury under the head "IX  Land Revenue." The amount of refund should be drawn on a refund voucher and charged to "IX Land Revenue deduct Refunds."

(2)     The amount recoverable on account of 'Security Deposits' shall be created into the treasury as "Revenue Deposits." On the expiry of the permit the amount lying in deposits on this account, shall be withdrawn either in cash or partly in cash and partly by transfer credit to "IX Land Revenue " accordingly as any part of it is or is not forfeited to Government, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 201 of the Civil Account Code, Volume I.

(3)     Similarly, the amount recovered on account of damage either payable to the owner or tenant or other party may in the first instance, be credited to "Revenue Deposits" pending subsequent withdrawal for disbursement to the person entitled to receive it on the sanction of the Collector, or if so decided by the Collector.

(4)     The amount of penalty imposed if recovered in cash should be credited to the head "IX Land Revenue." This record will be kept in the books of the Wasil Baqi Nawis.

Rule - 25. Filing of Complaints.

A sub-inspector of quarries or any other Officer authorised by the Deputy Commissioner or the Collector shall be the competent person to file a complaint under Rule 20 of these Rules.

Rule - 26. Power of entry and inspection.

(1)     For the purpose of ascertaining the position of the working of any quarry or abandoned quarry or for any purpose connected with these Rules, any person authorised in this behalf by the Deputy Commissioner by general or special order, may  

(a)      enter and inspect any quarry ;

(b)      survey and take measurement in any such quarry ;

(c)      weigh, measure or take measurement of the stock of minerals lying at any quarry ;

(d)      examine any document, book, register or record in possession or power of any person having the control of or connected with any quarry and place (sic) identification thereon, and take extracts from or make copies of (sic), book, register or record;

(e)      order the production of any such document, book, register or record as is referred in clause (d); and

(f)       examine any person having the control of, or connected with, any quarry. (2) Every person authorized by the Deputy Commissioner under sub-rule (1) shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, and every person to whom any order or summons is issued by virtue of powers conferred by clause (e) or clause (f), of the said sub-rule shall be legally bound to comply with such order or summons as the case may be.

Rule - 27. No restriction etc. to be imposed by owner of land of quarrying operations.

No person having a right in any capacity in the land covered by a quarry permit shall be entitled to impose any prohibition or restriction on the quarrying operations by the holder of quarry permit of such land or to demand any sum by way of premium or royalty for the removal of the minor mineral provided that such person shall be entitled to get compensation from the said holder for the use of the surface which may be agreed upon between them. In the case of any dispute of amount of compensation shall be determined by the Deputy Commissioner keeping in view the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act or any other officer authorised by him in this behalf, and his order shall be final.

Rule - 28. Relaxation of rules in special cases.

The Deputy Commissioner may, if he is of opinion that in the interest of mineral development it is necessary so to do, by order, and for reasons to be recorded in writing, authorise in any case for the grant of any quarry permit or the working of any quarry for the purpose of mining of any mineral on terms and conditions different from those laid down in these rules.

Rule - 29. Power to rectify apparent mistakes.

Any clerical or arithmetical mistakes in any order passed under these Rules by the Deputy Commissioner or any other competent authority or officer may be corrected by the Deputy Commissioner, authority or officer, as the case may be:

Provided that no order prejudicial to any person shall be passed unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

SCHEDULE

(See Rule 10)