Prospecting licence procedure: written hearing can satisfy natural justice, and relevant mineral-policy factors may justify refusal.

Rule 12 of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 requires an applicant for prospecting licence to be given an opportunity of being heard and reasons to be recorded before refusal. A personal oral hearing is not invariably required; fair compliance can be achieved through show-cause notice and consideration of the written explanation, depending on the nature of the matter and the right involved. In assessing a prospecting licence application, the Government may consider relevant factors such as need, reserve availability, plant capacity, expansion plans and competing applications. On that basis, the refusal was held valid and not vitiated by absence of personal hearing or reliance on irrelevant considerations.

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Issues: Whether rejection of the application for prospecting licence was vitiated for want of personal hearing, reliance on alleged irrelevant or extraneous considerations, or breach of the procedural requirement in Rule 12 of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.

Analysis: Rule 12 of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 requires that an applicant be given an opportunity of being heard and that reasons be recorded in writing before refusal of a prospecting licence. The hearing requirement was satisfied by issuing show-cause notices and considering the written explanation submitted by the petitioner. The expression "opportunity of being heard" does not invariably mean an oral or personal hearing; whether such hearing is necessary depends on the nature of the matter and the right involved. In an application for prospecting licence, no vested right exists to obtain the licence, and the Government may consider relevant matters bearing on need, reserve availability, plant capacity, expansion plans, and competing applications. The impugned order disclosed reasons and the material relied upon was held to be relevant to the decision-making process.

Conclusion: The refusal was held valid and was not vitiated by absence of personal hearing or by reliance on irrelevant considerations.

Ratio Decidendi: In deciding an application for prospecting licence, compliance with the rule of hearing under Rule 12 is satisfied by a fair opportunity to submit representations, and a personal oral hearing is not mandatory unless the circumstances so require.

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