#THE LAND ACQUISITION (MINES) ACT, 1885 
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##ARRANGEMENT  OF SECTIONS 
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###SECTIONS 

1.  Short title and local extent. 

2.  Saving for mineral rights of the Government. 

3.  Declaration that mines are not needed. 

4.  Notice to be given before working mines lying under land. 

5.  Power to prevent or restrict working. 

6.  Mode of determining persons interested and amount of compensation. 

7.  If appropriate Government does not offer to pay compensation, mines may be worked in a proper 
manner. 

8.  Mining communications. 

9.  Appropriate Government to pay compensation for injury done to mines. 

10. And also for injury arising from any airway or other work. 

11. Power to officer of appropriate Government to enter and inspect the working of mines. 

12.  Penalty for refusal to allow inspection. 

13.  If mines worked contrary to provisions of this Act, appropriate Government may require means to 

be adopted for safety of land acquired. 

14. Construction of Act when land acquired has been transferred to a local authority or Company. 

15. [Repealed.]. 

16.  Definition of local authority and Company. 

17. This Act to be read with Land Acquisition Act, 1870.

 
 
#THE LAND ACQUISITION (MINES) ACT, 1885 

##ACT NO. 18 OF 1885

[16th October, 1885.] 

An Act to provide for cases in which Mines or Minerals are situate under land which it is desired to 
acquire under the Land Acquisition Act, 1870.

WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for cases in which mines or minerals are situate under land which 
it  is  desired  to  acquire  under  the  Land  Acquisition  Act,  18702  (10  of  1870);  It  is  hereby  enacted  as 
follows: — 

1. **Short title and local extent.**—This Act may be called the Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885; 
and 

(2) It extends to the whole of India except the territories which, immediately before the 1st 
November, 1956, were comprised in Part B States.

(3) It applies in the first instance to the territories which, immediately before the 1st November, 1956, 
were comprised in the States of Madras, Andhra, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Orissa; but any State 
Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, bring this Act into force in 
the whole or any specified part of the territories to which this Act extends, under its administration.

2. **Saving for mineral rights of the Government.**—  Except  as  expressly  provided  by  this  Act, 
nothing in this Act shall affect the right of the Government to any mines or minerals.

3. **Declaration that mines are not needed.**—(1)  When  the  appropriate  Government  makes  a 
declaration  under  section  6  of  the  Land  Acquisition  Act,  1870 (10 of 1870); that land is  needed  for  a 
public  purpose  or  for  a  Company,  it  may,  if  it  thinks  fit,  insert  in  the  declaration  a  statement  that  the 
mines of coal, iron-stone, slate or other minerals lying under the land or any particular portion of the land, 
except only such parts of the mines or minerals as it may be necessary to dig or carry away or use in the 
construction of the work for the purpose of which the land is being acquired, are not needed. 

(2) When a statement as aforesaid has not been inserted in the declaration made in respect of any land 
under section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1870 (10 of 1870), and the Collector is of opinion that the 
provisions of this Act ought to be applied to the land, he may abstain from tendering compensation under 
section 11 of the said Land Acquisition Act in respect of the mines, and may— 

(a) when he makes an award under section 14 of that Act, insert such a statement in this award; 

(b)  when he makes a reference to the Court under section 15 of that Act, insert such a statement 
in his reference; or 

(c)  when he takes possession of the land under section 17 of that Act, publish such a statement 
in such manner as the appropriate Government may, from time to time, prescribe. 

(3) If any such statement is inserted in the declaration, award or reference, or published as 
aforesaid,  the  mines  of  coal,  iron-stone,  slate  or  other  minerals  under  the  land  or  portion  of  the  land 
specified in the statement, except as aforesaid, shall not vest in the Government when the land so vests 
under the said Act. 

4. **Notice  to  be  given  before  working  mines  lying  under  land.**—If the person for the time 
being  immediately  entitled  to  work  or  get  any  mines  or  minerals  lying  under  any  land  so  acquired  is 
desirous of working or getting the same, he shall give the appropriate Government notice in writing of his 
intention so to do sixty days before the commencement of working. 

5. **Power  to  prevent  or  restrict  working.**—(1)  At  any  time  or  times  after  the  receipt  of  a 
notice  under the  last foregoing  section, and  whether before or  after the  expiration  of the  said period  of 
sixty  days,  the  appropriate  Government  may  cause  the  mines  or  minerals  to  be  inspected  by  a  person 
appointed by it for the purpose; and 

(2) If it appears to the appropriate Government that the working or getting of the mines or minerals, 
or  any  part  thereof,  is  likely  to  cause  damage  to  the  surface  of  the  land  or  any  works  thereon,  the 
appropriate Government may publish a declaration of its willingness, either—  

(a)  to  pay  compensation  for  the  mines  or  minerals  still  unworked  or  ungotten,  or  that  part 
thereof, to all persons having an interest in the same; or 

(b) to pay compensation to all such persons in consideration of those mines or minerals, or that 
part thereof, being worked or gotten in such manner and subject to such restrictions as the appropriate 
Government may in its declaration specify. 

(3) If the declaration mentioned in case (a) is made, then those mines or minerals, or that part thereof, 
shall not thereafter be worked or gotten by any person. 

(4) If the declaration mentioned in case (b) is made, then those mines or minerals, or that part thereof, 
shall not thereafter be worked or gotten by any person save in the manner and subject to the restrictions 
specified by the appropriate Government. 

(5) Every declaration made under this section shall be published in such manner as the appropriate 
Government may direct.

6. **Mode of determining persons interested and amount of compensation.**—When  the 
working or getting of any mines or minerals has been prevented or restricted under section 5, the persons 
interested  in  those  mines  or  minerals  and  the  amounts  of  compensation  payable  to  them,  respectively 
shall,  subject  to  all  necessary  modifications,  be  ascertained  in  the  manner  provided  by  the  Land 
Acquisition  Act,  1870 (10  of  1870),  for  ascertaining  the  persons  interested  in  the  land  to  be  acquired 
under that Act, and the amounts of compensation payable to them, respectively.

7. **If  appropriate  Government  does  not  offer  to  pay  compensation,  mines  may  be 
worked  in  a  proper  manner.**—(1)  If  before  the  expiration.  of  the  said  sixty  days  the  appropriate 
Government does not publish a declaration as provided in section 5, the owner, lessee or occupier of the 
mines may, unless and until such a declaration is subsequently made, work the mines or any part thereof 
in a manner proper and necessary for the beneficial working thereof, and according to the usual manner of 
working such mines in the local area where the same are situate.

(2)  If  any  damage  or  obstruction  is  caused  to  the  surface  of  the  land  or  any  works  thereon  by 
improper  working  of  the  mines,  the  owner,  lessee  or  occupier  of  the  mines  shall  at  once,  at  his  own 
expense, repair the damage or remove the obstruction, as the case may require. 

(3)  If the repair or removal is not at once effected, or, if the appropriate Government so thinks fit, 
without waiting for the same to be effected by the owner, lessee or occupier, the appropriate Government 
may execute the same and recover from the owner, lessee or occupier the expense occasioned thereby. 

8. **Mining communications.**—If the working of any mines is prevented or restricted under section 
5,  the respective  owners,  lessees  and occupiers  of  the  mines,  if their  mines  extend  so  as  to lie  on  both 
sides of the mines the working of which is prevented or restricted, may cut and make such and so many 
airways, headways, gateways or water-levels through the mines, measures or strata, the working whereof 
is prevented or restricted, as may be requisite to enable them to ventilate, drain and work their said mines; 
but no such airway, headway, gateway or water-level shall be of greater dimensions or section than may 
be prescribed by the appropriate Government in this behalf, and, where no dimensions are so prescribed, 
not greater than eight feet wide and eight feet high, nor shall the same be cut or made upon any part of the 
surface or works, or so as to injure the same, or to interfere with the use thereof.

9. **Appropriate Government to pay compensation for injury done to mines.**—The 
appropriate Government shall, from time to time, pay to the owner, lessee or occupier of any such mines 
extending so as to lie on both sides of the mines, the working of which is prevented or restricted, all such 
additional expenses and losses as may be incurred by him by reason of the severance of the lands lying 
over those mines or of the continuous working of those mines being interrupted as aforesaid, or by reason 
of  the  same  being  worked  in  such  manner  and  under  such  restrictions  as  not  to  prejudice  or  injure  the 
surface  or  works,  and  for  any  minerals  not  acquired  by  the  appropriate  Government  which  cannot  be 
obtained by reason of the action taken under the foregoing sections; and if any dispute or question arises 
between the appropriate Government and the owner, lessee or occupier as aforesaid, touching the amount 
of those losses or expenses, the same shall be settled as nearly as may be in the manner provided for the 
settlement  of  questions touching  the amount  of  compensation payable under  the  Land  Acquisition  Act, 
1870 (10 of 1870). 

10. **And also for injury arising from any airway or other work.**—If  any  loss  or  damage  is 
sustained by the owner or occupier of the lands lying over any such mines, the working whereof has been 
so prevented or restricted as aforesaid (and not being the owner, lessee or occupier of those mines), by 
reason of the making of any such airway or other works as aforesaid, which or any like work it would not 
have been necesssary to make but for the working of the mines having been so prevented or restricted as 
aforesaid,  the  appropriate  Government  shall  pay  full  compensation  to  that  owner  or  occupier  of  the 
surface lands for the loss or damage so sustained by him.

11. **Power  to  officer  of  appropriate  Government  to  enter  and  inspect  the  working  of 
mines.**—For  better  ascertaining  whether  any  mines  lying  under  land  acquired  in  accordance  with  he 
provisions of this Act arc being worked, or have been worked, or are likely to be worked so as to damage 
the land or the works thereon, an officer appointed for this purpose by the appropriate Government may, 
after giving twenty-four hours’ notice in writing, enter into and ret urn from any such mines or the works 
connected  therewith;  and  for  that  purpose  the  officer  so  appointed  may  make  use  of  any  apparatus  or 
machinery  belonging  to  the  owner,  lessee  or  occupier  of  the  mines,  and  use  all  necessary  means  for 
discovering the distance from any part of the land acquired to the parts of the mines which have been, arc 
being, or are about to be worked.

12. **Penalty for refusal to allow inspection.**—If any owner, lessee or occupier of any such mines 
or works refuses to allow any officer appointed by the appropriate Government for that purpose to enter 
into and inspect any such mines or works in manner aforesaid, he shall be punished with fine which may 
extend to two hundred rupees.

13. **If  mines  worked  contrary  to  provisions  of  this  Act,  appropriate  Government  may  require 
means to be adopted for safety of land acquired.**—If  it  appears  that  any  such  mines  have  been 
worked contrary to the provisions of this Act, the appropriate Government may, if it thinks fit, give notice 
to  the  owner,  lessee  of  occupier  thereof  to  construct  such  works  and  to  adopt  such  means  as  may  be 
necessary  or  proper  for  making  safe  the  land  acquired,  and  the  works  thereon,  and  preventing  injury 
thereto;  and  if,  after  such  notice,  any  such  owner,  lessee  or  occupier  does  not  forthwith  proceed  to 
construct the works necessary for making safe the land acquired and the works thereon, the appropriate 
Government  may  itself  construct  the  works  and  recover  the  expense  thereof  from  the  owner,  lessee  or 
occupier. 

14. **Construction  of  Act  when  land  acquired  has  been  transferred  to  a  local  authority  or 
Company.**—When a statement under section 3 has been made regarding any land, and the land has been 
acquired  by  the  Government,  and  has  been  transferred  to  or  has  vested  by  operation  of  law  in  a  local 
authority  or  Company,  then  sections  4  to  13,  both  inclusive,  shall  be  read  as  if  for  the  words  “the 
appropriate  Government”,  wherever  they  occur  in  those  sections, 1[except  in  section  5,  sub-section  (5) 
and section 8], the words “the local authority or Company, as the case may be, which has acquired the 
land,” were substituted. 

15. *[Pending  cases.]  Rep.  by  the  Repealing  and  Amending  Act,  1937  (20  of  1937),  s.  3  and  the 
Second Schedule.* 

16. **Definition of local authority and Company.**—In this Act—  

(a) “local authority” means any municipal committee, district board, body of port 
commissioners or other authority legally entitled to, or entrusted by the Government with, the control 
or management of any municipal or local fund; and

(b)  “Company” means a company registered under any of the enactments relating to Companies 
from time to time in force in India, or formed in pursuance of an Act of Parliament of the United 
Kingdom or by Royal Charter or Letters Patent;

(c)  “appropriate  Government”  means  in  relation  to  acquisition  of  land  for  the  purposes 
of  the  Union,  the  Central  Government,  and,  in  relation  to  acquisition  of  land  for  any  other 
purposes, the State Government.

17. **This Act to be read with Land Acquisition Act, 1870.**—This act shall, for the purposes of all 
enactments for the time being in force, be read with and taken as part of the Land Acquisition Act, 18704 
(10 of 1870).