Illegal Extraction Of Mines & Minerals Amounts To Theft Under Section 379 IPC: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court held that illegal extraction of mines and minerals, without requisite permit or in violation of the permit conditions, will amount to theft under Section 379 of the Indian Penal Code.

In this case, one Shybi CJ had filed a complaint before the Police alleging that the accused, in the guise of conducting a granite, quarry and crusher unit in the name and style "M/s.Four Star Granites Ltd", is extracting granite far in excess of the permitted quantity and is thereby committing theft, which is an offence punishable under Section 379 of the IPC. Aggrieved by inaction of the police, he approached the High Court by filing a writ petition.

Relying on a recent Supreme Court decision in Jayant v. State of Madhya Pradesh, Advocate C. Dheeraj Rajan, who appeared for the petitioner, contended that illegal extraction/exploitation of natural resources will amount to theft, punishable under Section 379 of IPC. He also referred to the judgment in Kanwar Pal Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh in which the Apex court rejected the contention that, sand being an immovable property as per Section 3(26) of the General Clauses Act, its excavation will not constitute the offence of theft.

"The precedents aforementioned leave no room for doubt that illegal extraction of granite, without requisite permit or in violation of the permit conditions, will amount to theft," Justice VG Arun observed while agreeing with this contention.

The court therefore directed the police to consider the complaint and take appropriate action thereon within two weeks.

Case: SHYBI.C.J vs. STATE OF KERALA

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