Excavation by builders, nuclear plants does not amount to mining: SC

NEW DELHI: Builders excavating “ordinary earth” to lay foundation of a building cannot be deemed to be carrying out “mining” of a minor mineral and hence cannot be held guilty of violating laws that make such activity punishable without the collector’s nod and also liable for paying fines, the Supreme Court has said.

A two-judge bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and RK Agrawal on Tuesday ruled in favour of the Promoters and Builders Association of Pune, which had challenged Maharashtra government’s move to impose penalties on them for excavation work done while undertaking their building projects.

The state had invoked the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code to impose the penalties and argued that the builders could also be punished under the Mines and Minerals Act.

The builders had challenged this in the Bombay High Court and lost in October 2010, after which appealed to the Supreme Court. The Tarapur Nuclear Power Corporation also moved the top court with similar complaints.

“Ordinary earth” is listed as a minor mineral under the Mines and Minerals Act and hence cannot be mined without the collector’s nod, the builders conceded. However, they had all the building sanctions and did not require special nod to excavate as they were not using the earth for levelling purposes in roads, railways, embankments, etc. If they did, they would attract the Mines and Minerals Act, 1957.