9911796707
TMI Blog1979 (7) TMI 166X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2. In July 1975, the petitioners imported 12 consignments of thin-walled bearings valued at Rs. 8,00,000/-. However, the Customs Authorities detained the said consignment pending investigation into the validity of the Actual User Licence issued and/or obtained by the petitioners. On 12-8-1975, the petitioners received a letter from the Director of Industries informing them that Items Nos. 1 and 2 in the letter dated 28-4-1970 by which their registration certificate was corrected should be corrected further to read as follows:- All types of Diesel Engines and its spares. Internal combustion engines and its spares." This meant that the petitioners were entitled to manufacture as per the said registration certificate all types of diesel engines and internal combustion engines with their spares. On 26-8-1975 the Acutal User Licence issued to the petitioners was retrospectively amended by adding the words and spares to the words internal combustion engines. In other words pursuant to this retrospective amendment, the petitioners were allowed to import even the spares of internal combustion engines. 3. Subsequently in January 1976 the Customs detained yet another consignme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itioners were restrained from receiving import licences, CCPs and allotment of imported goods through STC/MMTC and any other similar agency for five licensing periods viz. from April 1975 - March 1976 to April 1979 - March 1980. It is these orders which have come to be challenged by the petitioners. 7. The short question that has been agitated by the petitioners in this petition is that in the absence of documents on which admittedly the second respondent relied both for issuing the show-cause notices and for passing the impugned orders, they were not granted a reasonable opportunity to meet the case of the respondents pursuant to the show-cause notices issued. Mr. Singhvi for the petitioners in support of his contention that the entire proceedings were vitiated for want of such reasonable opportunity relied upon the decision of the Supreme Court reported in (1962) 1 S.C.R. 540 (Sinha Govindji v. the Deputy Chief Controller of Imports and Exports and others). In that case the petitioner who was carrying on the business of the manufacture of celluloid and plastic bangles etc. was granted two licences for the purpose of importing cellulose nitrate sheets for two licensing periods. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tioners and since an opportunity was given to the petitioners to produce all the materials that they wanted to meet the charges in the show cause notices, it could not be said that this was a case of breach of the principles of natural justice. In this connection, he relied upon certain observations made in three decisions viz. A.I.R. 1976 S.C. 143 (City Corner v. Personal Assistant to Collector and Additional District Magistrate, Nellore); 79 B.L.R. 581 (Baldevdas R. Raheja v. The Union of India) and 1983 E.L.T. 1486 (S.C.) = A.I.R. 1972 S.C. 2136 (Ms. Kanungo Co. v. The Collector of Customs, Calcutta and others). As far as the first authority is concerned, Mr. Dhanuka relied upon the observation in that case that it is well established that the principles of natural justice do not necessarily conform to a fixed formula, nor is it a procrustean bed into which all proceedings must be fitted. It is not always necessary that the documents asked for should themselves be furnished provided the substance of those documents is furnished, always provided, however, that the summary is not misleading. As regards 79, B.L.R. 581, he relied upon the observations which are as follows:- The ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s, Bombay it has transpired that you are not in possession of the requisite machinery for the manufacture of Internal Combustion Engines and the machinery which you are having in your factory premises at the given address is only suitable for manufacture of small threaded parts used in bicycle industry and to a certain extent in automobile industry. The said items viz. Diesel Engines, Internal Combustion Engines, Auto Parts have also been deleted from the SSI registration certificate granted to you by the Director of Industries, Bombay...... It is thus obvious from this show-cause notice that it was issued on the basis of the inquiries made by the Director of Industries and the Assistant Collector of Customs. Neither the report of the inquiry nor the gist of such inquiries was intimated to the petitioners along with the show-cause notice or at any time thereafter before the impugned orders were passed. It is this report of the inquiries which was asked for by the petitioners by their Attorney letter dated 8-7-1976. In spite of this, neither the said report nor even a summary thereof was supplied to the petitioners. On the other hand finding that no such document was forthcoming ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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