Prayagraj: Allahabad High Court has said that it is clear in the law that before imposing any fine or blacklisting a firm, the concerned firm should be given an opportunity to be heard. Disposing of the petition of Sonbhadra's M/s Baba Khatu Industries, the division bench of Justice Saral Srivastava and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal has directed the District Magistrate to consider the petitioner's representation afresh and take a decision within a month. The court has cancelled the order of the District Magistrate dated July 29, which talked about blacklisting the firm along with confiscating the fine and bail amount.
According to the facts related to the case, the District Magistrate had confiscated the bail amount of Rs 1,07,43,587 of the petitioner and directed him to deposit Rs 2,35,56,096. The order also stated that Rs 56,14,813 be deducted from the security deposit for illegal mining. The petitioner firm was also blacklisted, banning it from mining for two years. The petitioner's lawyers said that no opportunity was given to be heard regarding the allegations. Therefore, the impugned order is illegal.
It was also said that the petitioner is not liable to pay any installment as he had applied to surrender the lease deed on April 1 itself. The government said that unless the petitioner submits an application for lease surrender as per Rule 13 of the Uttar Pradesh Minor Minerals (Concession) Rules, 2021, the application is wrong and the District Magistrate is not bound to consider such an application. The petitioner is liable to pay the installment of royalty and there is no illegality in the order of the District Magistrate. The state government issued a notice on June 5 asking the petitioner to deposit an installment of Rs 1,57,04,064 or show cause notice. After hearing both the parties, the court said that it appears from the records that the District Magistrate has not issued any notice before seizing the securities of the petitioner and blacklisting the firm.
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