The Kerala High Court has declared the Kerala Minerals (Vesting of Rights) Act, 2021, as unconstitutional, finding that the State legislature was unqualified to enact the legislation. The court held that the Act violated Article 300A of the Constitution, which protects a person against deprivation of property. The court also directed a refund of the royalty paid by the petitioners aggrieved by the Act.
The legislation was enacted in 2021 to vest all mineral rights in the Malabar region with the State. The landowners were required to pay royalty on the granite extracted from their quarries. They approached the court challenging this requirement and claiming refund of the royalty hitherto collected. They contended that the State could not claim ownership unless there was a specific legislation vesting such rights. They also argued against the State’s competence to pass the legislation.
State’s stance
The State contended that it had powers under the mines and mineral laws in Kerala to seek royalty from the owners as a condition for permits to extract and transport minerals. It argued that the legislation was enacted to secure the ownership and control of mineral resources of the community and ensure its distribution to serve the common good. Providing compensation to the owners in the Malabar region would be an act of discrimination against landowners in Travancore and Cochin regions where mineral rights had been vested with the State through a pre-Independence legislation, it maintained.
The Division Bench of A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and A.K. Preetha found that the State was not authorised to regulate the vesting of mineral rights, as the Centre possessed jurisdiction over the subject. The Act did not uphold the rights to equality, freedom of profession, and life as well, the court observed.
Appeal in SC: CPI(M)
Following the court order, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded that the State file a petition in the Supreme Court against the High Court order. It stated that the invalidated legislation had ensured the control and distribution of natural resources for the collective good, as envisioned in the Constitution. Even though the ownership of the minerals in a land is vested with the landlord, the control over mining and distribution should vest with the government, and therefore, the State should appeal against this order, the CPI(M) contended.
Published – July 20, 2026 08:05 pm IST
