9911796707
TMI Blog2012 (10) TMI 1134X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... his application are very briefly enumerated hereinafter. 4. The petitioner No. 1 Ravindra Kamalakant Shukla @ Ravindra K. Shukla (hereinafter referred to as 'Shukla') is the partner of the petitioner No. 2, Pacific Ocean Shipping Agency of 67, Laxmipalli, Post-Morepukur, Rishra, District-Hooghly, (hereinafter referred to as 'Pacific'). Pacific is a partnership firm of which Shukla, one Biswanath Brahma and one Ajay Pudder are partners. The firm is not registered under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932. 5. Shukla and his partners carry on business as Customs House Agents. According to the petitioners, Shukla, the principal partner of Pacific has vast experience in the Customs House Agency Business. 6. Section 146 of the Customs Act provides that no person shall carry on business as agent relating to the entry or departure of a conveyance or the import or export of goods at any customs station unless such person holds a licence granted in this behalf in accordance with regulations. 7. Section 146(2) of the said Act empowers the Board to make regulations for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of Section 146. Such regulations may provide for - (a) the a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... le for the fulfilment in respect of the matter in question of all obligations imposed on such person in charge by or under this Act or any law for the time being in force, and to penalties and confiscations which may be incurred in respect of that matter." 9. In exercise of power conferred under Section 146(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Board of Excise and Customs made the Customs House Agents' Licensing Regulations, 1984, hereinafter referred to as the CHALR, 1984. Some of the provisions of the CHALR, 1984 are set hereinbelow for convenience : 4. Invitation of application. - The Commissioner may invite application for the grant of such number of licences as assessed by him, to act as Customs House Agents in the month of January every year by means of a notice affixed on the notice board of each Customs Station as well as through publication in at least two newspapers having circulation in the area of his jurisdiction, specifying therein the last date of receipt of application. Such application shall be for clearance work within the jurisdiction of the said Commissioner. 5. Application for licence. - (1) An application for a licence to act as a Cus ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uld like to avail of the third chance as soon as the next examination is held in terms of regulation 9 and that the applicant has been able to account for the minimum volume of work prescribed for such agents in the course of one year's working, the Commissioner may extend the aforesaid period of one year for which the temporary licence has been granted by another six months or such further period not exceeding one year to enable the applicant to avail of the third chance for qualifying the examination in terms of regulation 9. While granting such extension the Commissioner of Customs shall satisfy himself that the requirements of regulations 10(1)(a) and 10(1)(b) had been fully met by the applicant. (2) ………………. (3) ……………… 9. Examination of the applicant. - (1) The holder of a temporary licence in the case of an individual and the person or persons who will be actually engaged in the work of clearance of goods through customs on behalf of the firm or company holding a temporary licence, as the case may be, shall be required to qualify in examination, at the earliest opportunit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... complaints of misconduct including non-compliance of any of the obligations specified in regulation 14. (2) …………………. (3) The Commissioner may reject an application for the grant of regular licence to act as Customs House Agent if the holder of the temporary licence fails to qualify in the examination in terms of regulation 9, or the holder of temporary licence on evaluation of his performance in terms of regulation 10 is not considered suitable due to any other reason to be stated in the orders passed by the Commissioner ……… 12. Period of validity of a regular licence. - (1) A licence granted under regulation 10 shall be valid for a period of five years, but may be renewed from time to time in accordance with procedure provided in sub-regulation (2). (2) The Commissioner of Customs, may on application made by the licensee, before the expiry of the validity of the licence under sub-regulation (1) renew the licence for a period of five years from the date of expiration of the original licence granted under regulation 10 or of the least renewal of such licence, as the case may be, if the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... all be for clearance work within the jurisdiction of the said Commissioner of Customs. 5. Application for licence. - (1) An application for a licence to act as Customs House Agent in a Customs Station shall be made in Form A and shall, inter alia, contain the name and the address of the person applying; (2) If the applicant is a firm - (a) the name and address of every partner of the firm, the firm's name, and (b) the name of the partner or the duly authorized employee, who will actually be engaged in the clearance of goods or conveyance through the customs. (4) If the applicant is a company - (a) the name of each director, managing director, manager and (b) the names of director, managing director, manager of the duly authorized employee, who will actually be engaged in the clearance of goods or conveyances through the customs. 6. Conditions to be fulfilled by the applicant. - The applicant referred to in clause (b) of sub-regulations (2) and (3) of regulation 5 as the case may be, or a person who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8, shall prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs, that - (a) the applicant, or his ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hellip; (7) The Commissioner of Customs shall also satisfy himself whether the applicant, if he is an individual, possesses, or in the case of a firm or company, the persons who shall be actually engaged in the work relating to clearance of goods through customs on behalf of that firm or company, possess satisfactory knowledge of English and the local language of the Customs Station : Provided that in the case of persons deputed to work exclusively in the docks, knowledge of English shall not be compulsory. Knowledge of Hindi shall be considered as an additional or desirable qualification. (8) The holders of a licence under regulation 9 may authorize any one or more of their employees or partners or directors to appear for the examination referred to in sub-regulation (1) on behalf of such holders of licence, in addition to the person of their agency who has passed the examination referred to in sub-regulation (1). 9. Grant of licence. - (1) The Commissioner of Customs shall on payment of a fee of ₹ 5,000/ - grant a licence in Form B to an applicant who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8. (2) The Customs House Agents who are g ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t held that a temporary license holder, who had passed the examination under Regulation 9 of CHALR, 1984 was not required to clear an examination under Regulation 8 of the 2004 Regulations for grant of permanent license. This Court further held that : "A comparative reading of Regulation 9(3) of the 1984 Regulations and Regulation 8(6) of the 2004 Regulations show that the syllabus prescribed under the 2004 Regulations is almost identical to the syllabus prescribed under the 1984 Regulations, except for insertion in the 2004 Regulations of Regulation 8(6)(q) extracted hereinbelow : "(q) on-line filing of electronic shipping bills or bills of entry and Indian Customs and Central Excise Electronic Commerce/ Electronic Data interchange Gateway [ICEGATE] and Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange Systems [ICES]." Regulations 8(6)(a) to 8(6)(p) of the 2004 Regulations are a verbatim reproduction of Regulations 9(3)(a) to 9(3)(p) of the 1984 Regulations except for the changes indicated hereinbelow : Regulations 9(3)(m) and 9(3)(o) of the 1984 Regulations provided as follows : "(m) drawback; (o) the provisions of allied Acts including Imports and Exports (Contro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... viso to Regulation 8(1) and Regulation 9 of the 2004 Regulations reveal that the examination referred to in Regulation 8 includes the Customs House Clearing Agents' Examination under the old Regulations. Regulation 6 enumerates the conditions required to be fulfilled for grant of licence. Regulation 6 provides that the applicant or the person referred to in Clause (b) of sub-regulation (2) or Clause (b) of sub-regulation (3) of Regulation 5, as the case may be, or a person who has passed the examination referred to in Regulation 8 shall prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs that the applicant or his authorized employee is a graduate from a recognized University and possesses the professional degree as specified in the said regulation, has diploma in customs clearance work from any Institute or University recognized by the Government with working knowledge of computers and customs procedures; or is a graduate having at least 3 years' experience in transacting Customs House Agent work as a G-Card holder; or a person who has passed the examination referred to in Regulation 8; or is a retired Group 'A' officer from the Indian Customs and Central Excise Service havin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
