9911796707
TMI Blog1999 (1) TMI 134X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is whether the appellant s licence has been rightly cancelled, instead of renewing the same as per his renewal application under Regulation 12. 2. Heard learned Consultant Sri M.S. Kumaraswamy, who submitted as follows :- (a) The appellants were granted temporary CHA licence by the Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore in the year 1988. (b) The same was converted into a permanent licence bearing No. R-3/89, dated 31-5-1989 by the Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore under Regulation 10 of CHALR. (c) In due course of time, the appellants business improved in Chennai also and therefore, he qualified and obtained a CHA licence under Regulation 10(2) on 3-7-1989 bearing No. R/282, issued by the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai and valid upt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... her interpretation. Under these circumstances, I have no option but to cancel the licence. Accordingly, the said licence is cancelled." 3. The learned Consultant argues that the said cancellation is patently illegal, in view of the fact that both the licences at Bangalore and Chennai were issued under Regulation 10 of CHALR and therefore, both have to be treated as independent licences issued by independent competent authorities. The learned Consultant also submits that in case, a view has been taken that the licence at Chennai is to be viewed to be linked with the parent licence of Bangalore, it leads to an unsatisfactory position wherein the appellant is forced to do business in Bangalore, simply to enable him to do business in his pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Original impugned. She submits that since the original licence under Regulation 10 was allowed to be lapsed, the appellants no longer remained qualified to hold the licence under Regulation 10(2) and therefore, the Commissioner has correctly cancelled their licence at Chennai in non-consideration of their renewal application noted above. 5. We have carefully considered the rival submissions as well as the records of the case. We find that Regulation 10 of the Custom House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984 (CHALR) prescribes the conditions on which CHA licences may be granted to the applicants. We find that since the appellant, who was already in a possession of temporary licence had qualified in the examination at Bangalore Customs, he h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e same format i.e. form D, as was done in the case of their Bangalore licence. We note that the licence issued at Chennai bore no condition that it was valid only for the period when the parent licence at Bangalore was valid. We observe that it was rightly so because grant of licence under Regulation 10(2) is not subject to any such express condition. 7. We, therefore, have of necessity to also consider Regulation 12, whereunder the appellants had made request for renewal of the said licence at Chennai. A plain reading of the said Regulation shows that any licence granted under Regulation 10 shall be valid for this specified period and may be renewed from time to time, in accordance with the procedure provided in sub-regulation (2) thereo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ays down that when the parent licence is not alive, subsequent licences issued under Regulation 10(2) was also ceased to have validity. 8. Similarly, a licence can be suspended or revoked finally under Regulation 21. It is not anybody s case, in the present appeal, that this regulation was invoked by the Commissioner. It is also not on record that the licensee was involved in any mis-conduct pertaining to his genuine obligations, as a Custom House Agent. 9. When we take these facts into view, the holistic picture which emerges is that a licence at Chennai was granted by an independent competent authority also under Regulation 10, as was the licence granted at Bangalore. We also find that none of the regulations as discussed above, provi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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