ICHCHAPUR INDL. COOPERATIVE SOCIETY vs COMPETENT AUTHORITY, ONGC

The Supreme Court addressed whether water qualifies as a mineral under the Mines Act, 1952 and the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962. The Court upheld the Gujarat High Court's ruling that the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) could lay pipelines for transporting water, as the right of user in the land had already vested in ONGC. The Court concluded that the action of ONGC was permissible under the Act, affirming that water can be considered a mineral for the purposes of transportation through the pipelines.