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TMI Blog1960 (1) TMI 31X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rict of Sundergarh (Orissa). He was asked on July 4, 1950, to submit a separate application for each area which he did on July 27, 1950. Some defects were pointed out in these applications and therefore the appellant submitted fresh applications on September 6, 1950, after removing the defects. In the meantime, the third respondent also made applications for mining leases for manganese for the same area on July 10, 1950. These applications were not accompanied by the deposit required under r. 29 of the Rules. Consequently, the third respondent was asked on July 24, 1950, to deposit a sum of ₹ 500, which it did on August 3, 1950. It was then found that the third respondent's applications were defective. It was therefore asked on September 5, 1950, to send a separate application in the prescribed form for each block and thereupon it submitted fresh applications on September 6, 1950. Eventually, on December 22, 1952, the State of Orissa granted the mining leases of the five areas to the appellant taking into account r. 32 of the Rules, which prescribed priority. It was held that the appellant's applications were prior and therefore the leases were granted to him. Thereaf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s liable to be quashed. In support of this, learned counsel relies on Nagendra Nath Bora and another v. The Commissioner of Hills Division and Appeals, Assam and others (1), and submits that rr. 52 to 55 of the Rules which are relevant for the purpose clearly show that the proceeding before the Central Government is a quasi-judicial proceeding in view of the following circumstances appearing from these rules: (1) Rule 52 gives a statutory right to any person aggrieved by an order of the State Government to apply for review in case of refusal of a mining lease; (2) It also prescribes a period of limitation, namely, two months; (3) Rule 53 prescribes a fee for an application under r. 52. These circumstances taken with the circumstance that a lis is (1) [1958] S.C.R. 1240. created as soon as a person aggrieved by an order is given the right to go up in review against another person in whose favour the order has been passed by the State Government show that the proceeding before the Central Government at any rate at the stage Of review is quasi-judicial to which rules of natural justice apply. Mr. G. S. Pathak appearing for the third respondent on the other hand contends that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r of the State Government under these rules shall be final. This Court had occasion to consider the nature of the two kinds of acts, namely, judicial which includes quasi- judicial and administrative, a number of times. In Province of Bombay v. Kushaldas S. Advani ([1950] S.C.R. 621), it adopted the celebrated definition of a quasi-judicial body given by Atkin L. J. in R. v. Electricity Commissioners ([1924] 1 K.B. 171), which is as follows:- Whenever any body of persons having legal authority to determine questions affecting rights of subjects, and having the duty to act judicially act in excess of their legal authority they are subject to the controlling jurisdiction of the King's Bench Division exercised in these writs. This definition insists on three requisites each of which must be fulfilled in order that the act of the body may be a quasi-judicial act, namely, that the body of persons (1) must have legal authority, (2) to determine questions affecting the rights of subjects, and (3) must have the duty to act judicially. After analysing the various cases, Das J. (as he then was) laid down the following principles as deducible therefrom in Kushaldas S. Advani's ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tive until confirmation by the Central Government; for in that case no right would arise until the confirmation was received from the Central Government. But r. 54 does not provide for confirmation by the Central Government. It gives power to the Central Government to act only when there is an application for review before it under r. 54. That is why we have not accepted Mr. Pathak's argument that in substance the State Government's order becomes effective only after it is confirmed; r. 54 does not support this. We have not found any provision in the Rules or in the Act which gives any power to the Central Government to review suo motu the order of the State Government granting a lease. That some kind of right is created on the passing of an order granting a lease is clear from the facts of this case also. The order granting the lease was made in December 1952. In April 1953 the appellant was put in possession of the areas granted to him and actually worked them thereafter. At any rate, when the statutory rule grants a right to any party aggrieved to make a review application to the Central Government it certainly follows that the person in whose favour the order is made ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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