TMI Blog2018 (11) TMI 1360X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , especially Section 8(3)(b), of the CST Act - Their Lordships have held that if a dealer is engaged both in mining operations and the manufacturing process-the two processes being interdependent-it would be impossible to exclude vehicles used for removing the mined (here'quarried') material from the place of operation to other places. Petition allowed - the respondents is directed to permit the petitioner Company to have access to the on-line facility- KVATIS- so it can download the necessary C-forms - petition disposed off. - WP (C). No. 31159 of 2018 - - - Dated:- 22-11-2018 - MR DAMA SESHADRI NAIDU, J. For The Petitioner : ADV. SRI. PHILIP J. VETTICKATTU For The Respondent : ADV. GOVERNMENT PLEADER JUDGMENT Introduction: Mining and quarrying, as we know, are related, yet distinct activities. One concerns the major minerals, and the other minor minerals. One involves the prospecting or extracting, the other mere excavation. Their semantic nuances apart, can we treat quarrying as an act of mining ? We will answer. Facts: 2. TMT Granites (Pvt.) Ltd., a dealer under the KVAT Act, quarries and crushes minor minerals; that is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y unconnected to the quarrying, even if quarrying were to be equated with mining. 8. Taking me through all the statutory provisions which the petitioner's counsel referred to earlier, Dr. James has made valiant efforts to convince me that the Company s demand for tax concession or exemption cannot be sustained. Dr. James would contend that none of the judgments the Company has relied on draws out the fundamental distinction between mining and quarrying. That issue is sub silentio- accepted in silence , without adjudication. Instead, these judgments concerned themselves either with the permits granted, mostly, for mining. So those judgments, she asserts, could be distinguished. In the end, she urges the Court to dismiss the writ petition. 9. Heard Sri Philip J. Vettickattu, the learned counsel for the petitioner, and Dr. Thushara James, the learned Government Pleader. Discussion: 10. The petitioner-Company, a registered dealer under the KVAT Act and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, has been engaged in quarrying and crushing of granite metals. It uses several items of machinery and motor vehicles for its quarrying operations. It claims that the machinery and the motor v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... goods inside the appropriate State under the sales tax law of that State, whichever is lower. 14. Sub-section (3) (b) of Section 8 specifies the goods. Among them included are the goods specified in the certificate of registration of the registered dealer for use by it in the manufacture or processing of goods for sale or in mining . The Company, however, carries quarrying operations. So the question is, can quarrying be equated with mining ? Mining and Quarrying: 15. First, we will examine the definitional dynamics of the words mine and quarry . According to Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, Related Terms, compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Mines,6 quarry is an open or surface mineral working, usually for the extraction of building stone, such as slate, limestone, and so on. It is distinguished from a mine because a quarry usually is open at the top and front and, in ordinary use of the term, by the character of the material extracted. It is also defined as an underground excavation formed in the roof, or fault, for obtaining material for pack walls. 16. The same lexicon defines mining as the science, technique, and business of mineral discovery and e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mineral. Indeed, under Section 15 of that Act, the State Government has the power to regulate the minor minerals. It may regulate the grant of quarry leases, mining leases, or other mineral concessions in respect of minor minerals and for purposes connected therewith. 22. Rule 2 (xvi) of the Kerala Minor Minerals Concession Rules 2015 defines quarrying lease to mean a mining lease for minor minerals granted under these rules for a period as specified in Rule 39. Rule 15 deals with the removal of overburden by a quarrying permit holder. 23. To elaborate, Rule 15 permits a person with a quarrying permit for extracting minerals also to extract overburden from the area under the permit without obtaining a quarrying permit, if such extraction is inevitable for him to extract the mineral under the permit. Judicial View: 24. In D.K. Trivedi and Sons, the petitioner raised questions relating to the constitutionality of Section 15(1) of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957, the power of the State Governments to make rules under Section 15 to enable them to charge dead rent and royalty in respect of leases of minor minerals granted by them. Also i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ession mining operations means any operations undertaken for the purpose of winning any mineral . Quarry , we have already seen, is to excavate stone for building, etc. by cutting, blasting, or the like. Relying on the lexical meaning of quarrying, D.K. Trivedi has emphatically held that quarrying minerals is, therefore, a mining operation inasmuch as it consists of an operation undertaken for the purpose of winning particular classes of minerals. 28. Then, D.K. Trivedi refers to Clause (vi) of Rule 2 of the Gujarat Rules. That Rule defines quarry lease as a kind of mining lease in respect of a minor mineral granted under these rules. In this context, we will, here, examine Rule 2 (xvi) of the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2015. It is, in fact, in para materia with the Gujarat Rule: Quarrying Lease means a mining lease for minor minerals granted under these rules for a period as specified in rule 39; Quarry leases are, therefore, included in the term mining leases , so holds D.K. Trivedi. And so must we. 29. To cap the discussion, I may refer to the Division Bench's judgment in All Kerala River Protection Council. It has dealt with, among other thing ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing operations were concluded and before the manufacturing process commenced, and also to carry the finished products. In that context, the Supreme Court has observed: [ w]e are also of the opinion that in a case where a dealer is engaged both in mining operations and in the manufacturing process - the two processes being interdependent - it would be impossible to exclude vehicles which are used for removing from the place where the mining operations are concluded to the factory where the manufacturing process starts. It appears that the process of mining ore and manufacture with the aid of ore copper goods is an integrated process and there would be no ground for exclusion from the vehicles those which are used for removing goods to the factory after the mining operations are concluded. Nor is there any ground for excluding locomotives and motor-vehicles used in carrying finished products from the factory. The expression goods intended for use in the manufacturing or processing of goods for sale may ordinarily include such vehicles as are intended to be used for removal of processed goods from the factory to the place of storage. 34. In J.K. Cotton Spinning and Weavi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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