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TMI Blog2023 (2) TMI 551X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... egulations of 2010 had approached this court. Allowing the challenge on the ground of lack of hearing, the Division Bench observed that there can be no dispute that the order rejecting application has visited the petitioner with civil consequences. In a case where an order whether it be administrative or quasi judicial, visits the party with civil consequences in absence of any statutory exclusion under the Regulations, there would be a right to a hearing, and the right to hearing would include right to a person being heard in person if such a request is made. The Division Bench accordingly set aside the order of non-renewal on that count. From the scheme of the Regulation 2010 it is clear that the Regulations themselves contemplate an appl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the parties, heard finally. 2. The Petitioner is engaged in international carriage of time sensitive documents and parcels on scale. Petitioner was registered as an authorized courier under the Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations 1998. The Petitioner is aggrieved by the orders passed by the Commissioner of Customs, Airport Special Cargo dated 19 August 2019 and 30 September 2019 refusing to renew the registration of the Petitioner. 3. The registration and recognition of a courier as 'authorized courier' is regulated by the Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations 1998 and the Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010. These Regulations have been issued pursuant to th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pinion between the members upon the issue of maintainability of the appeal and it was referred to the third member. Upon opinion being received from the third member, the Appellate Bench dismissed the appeal by order dated 27 January 2022 holding that it is not maintainable, after which the Petitioner is before us. 5. We have heard Mr.Prakash Shah, learned counsel for the Petitioner and Mr.Karan Adik, learned counsel for the Respondents. 6. Apart from the contention of the Petitioner that the appeal was maintainable, it is also sought to be contended that while refusing to issue the license or renew the license, no opportunity of any hearing was given to the Petitioner. The Petitioner has relied upon decision of the Division Bench of this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ns only on compliance of the conditions stipulated in regulation 8. (4) The Authorised Courier referred to in sub-regulation (3) shall comply with the conditions within a period which shall not exceed a period of three months: Provided that the Commissioner of Customs may extend the said period which shall not exceed a period of nine months. Provided further that nothing contained in this sub-regulation shall apply in respect of condition prescribed under sub-regulation (2) of regulation 8. (5) The registration granted under sub-regulation (3) shall be valid for a period of ten years. (6) The Commissioner of Customs may, if he finds that the applicant has been convicted in any court of law, or any criminal proceedings are pen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... specified period. However, this is conditional upon performance of the authorized courier found to be satisfactory with reference to the absence of any complaint or misconduct including non-compliance of any of the obligation under the Regulation 12. 8. In this context, the observations of the Division Bench in the case of A.S. Vasan and sons are pertinent. In this case a courier who was aggrieved by non-renewal under the Regulations of 2010 had approached this court. Allowing the challenge on the ground of lack of hearing, the Division Bench observed that there can be no dispute that the order rejecting application has visited the petitioner with civil consequences. In a case where an order whether it be administrative or quasi judicial, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f is conditional upon factual position specified in the Regulations. Not granting registration at the first instance would stand on a different footing than a case where registration is renewed from time to time over a long period and then not renewed. 11. The Petitioner was an authorized courier for almost 25 years and the registration was renewed from time to time. Petitioner states that it has invested substantial amounts towards the business. Therefore, the non-renewal clearly had civil consequences and severe implications for the Petitioner. In these circumstances the petitioner was entitled to an opportunity to explain before taking the impugned decision. The decision taken without giving opportunity to explain will thus have to be s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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