State Act

The Nagaland (Ownership & Transfer of Land and its Resources Act,1990

13. (1) Where prospecting licence has been granted in respect of any land within the State, the holder of the licence shall have a preferential right for obtaining a mining lease in respect of that land over any other person: Provided that the State Government is satisfied that the licencee had not committed any breach of the terms and conditions of the prospecting licence and is otherwise a fit person for being granted the mining lease. (2) Subject to the provisions of Sub-section (1), where two or more persons have applied for prospecting licence or a mining lease in respect of the same land, the applicant whose application was received earlier shall have a preferential right for the grant of the licence or lease, as the case may be, over the applicant whose application was received later: Provided that where any such application is received on the same day, the State Government may, after taking into consideration the matters specified in Sub-section(3), grant the prospecting licence or mining lease, as the case may be, to such one of the applicants as it may deem fit. (3) The matters referred to in Sub-section (2) are the following: (a) any special knowledge of, or experience in, prospecting operations or mining operations, as the case may be, possessed by the applicant; (b) The financial resources of the applicant; (c) The nature and quality of the technical staff employed or to be employed, by the applicant; (d) Such other matters as may be prescribed. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in Sub-section (2) but subject to the provisions of Sub-section (1), the State Government may, for any specified reasons to be recorded by it in writing, grant a prospecting licence or a mining, grant a prospecting licence or a mining lease to an applicant whose application was received later in preference to an applicant whose application was received earlier.