9911796707
TMI Blog1989 (12) TMI 159X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Gold (Control) Act, 1968 of the appellant herein, who are licensed Gold Dealers at Pattukkottai. 2. The appellants applied for renewal of their licence on 1-11-1985. The Department found that the appellant G. Subramanian had been involved in an offence case during 1985, which was adjudicated by the Collector of Customs & Central Excise, Trichy, in his order dated 12-5-1986, who levied a redemption fine of Rs. 2 lakhs on the seized gold ornaments and a penalty of Rs. 10,000 on Shri Subramanian for violation of the various provisions of the Gold (Control) Act. 3. Proceedings were instituted against the appellant by issue of a show cause notice asking him to show cause why the application for renewal of the licence should not be rejected ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... licence, which vitally affects his livelihood, because the appellant knows no other profession. The learned counsel also mentioned that the Department itself had not any objection for renewal of licences of other dealers, who were also involved in previous offences involving gold of about the same quantity as the appellant herein. The learned counsel also submitted that the Department had launched a prosecution in the same case against the appellant, which has been decided in favour of the appellant and that this should also be taken as an indicator about the nature and gravity of the offence and in the circumstances, the counsel submitted, that the lower authority has to necessarily go into the gravity and nature of the offence, which had ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... though these licensees had also been involved in previous offences. Similarly, the appellant herein also has given a list of names of the dealers whose licences, according to the appellant, have also been renewed in spite of past offences. 6. We have considered the submissions of the learned counsel as well as the learned Senior D.R. In the matter of non-renewal of licence for past offence under Rule 3(f) of the Gold Control (Licensing of Dealers) Rules, 1969, the Tribunal has been taking the view that in each such case non-renewal should not be automatic for a past offence but that the nature and gravity of the offence should be looked into as non-renewal of a licence of a dealer vitally affects his livelihood. In this context in the deci ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ved in para 41 of its order as follows :- "To carry on any business is a fundamental right conferred on a citizen under Article 19(1)(i)(g) of the Constitution. The renewal of licence prevents the licensee from carrying on the business. Therefore, for trivial breaches or contraventions of the provisions of the Gold (Control) Act or the Rules, the licensing authority should not refuse to renew the licence even if the breaches or the contraventions were ultimately upheld by the Appellate Tribunal in appeal. The refusal to renew the licence should be confined to serious and persistent contraventions." In this case the Deputy Collector had ordered the rejection of the renewal application based on his finding that the offence in which the appe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... consideration of the nature of the offence. Therefore, on consideration of the totality of the facts and circumstances of this case we hold that it would be a fit case for remanding to the original authority for determining whether the violation of the law by the appellant is so serious and his record shows a persistent tendency for such violation in order to justify the non-renewal of the dealer's licence. In such a view of the matter, we set aside the impugned order and remand the case to the Deputy Collector of Central Excise, Trichy, for issuing orders afresh in the case in de novo proceedings in the light of the above observations after giving the appellant an opportunity of hearing in accordance with law. X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
