TMI Blog1981 (5) TMI 111X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hange nor the equivalent in Indian currency. By a letter dated December 23, 1980, the respondent refused the permission to hold further ice-shows. This writ petition is filed against the said 'order of the respondent dated December 23, 1980. When the petition came up for stay of the impugned order (after the admission of the main petition), I permitted the petitioner to hold a show at Bangalore. The next show was to be held at Madras in March, 1981. I found that by securing the interim orders the petitioner would be able to get the petition decided in his favour even without the final hearing of the writ petition. I, therefore, expedited the hearing of the main writ petition itself. The petitioner submits that: ( i )as a citizen of India he has a fundamental right to carry on trade or business under article 19(1) ( g ) of the Constitution and the order " revoking " the permission was violative of the said right; ( ii )the permission given by the Reserve Bank on March 1, 1979, was without any time-limit. So long as his foreign exchange reserves in India were not exhausted, he was entitled to hold the ice-shows ; ( iii )no show-cause notice was issued to the petitioner before ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s. Therefore, he was requested to obtain the permission of the Reserve Bank. The administrative instructions issued by the Ministry of Finance in 1962 and 1980 are issued under sections 29 and 30 and other relevant provisions of the Act. The Govt. of India took a decision that foreign artistes performing cabaret shows or floor-shows or similar shows should not be permitted to carry on these activities in India. The need for preserving and augmenting foreign exchange cannot be over-emphasized. The Government has, therefore, a vital stake in preventing all such professional activities which are meant only for fun and enjoyment and not for any constructive nation building activity. The Government is also concerned with such activities if they are likely to dwindle or reduce the potential foreign exchange of non-resident citizens acquired abroad. As the foreign exchange transactions, pirticularly involving foreign nationals are often very complex and many times beyond the control through the normal State agencies, a cautious approach by Government is understandable and reasonable. Government can evolve any method to prevent likelihood of clandestine remittances of foreign exchange. I d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ority, cannot be construed in the light of explanations subsequently given by the officer making the order of what he meant or of what was in his mind or what he intended to do. Public orders made by public authorities are meant to have public effect and are intended to affect the acting and conduct of those to whom they are addressed and must be construed objectively with reference to the language used in the order itself." I do not think that the said decisions help the petitioner. Here the Reserve Bank is not filing any new evidence in support of its case. It is the petitioner who has' himself furnished the information from time to time. He himself proceeded, while obtaining the permission for holding the show on certain assumptions regarding the duration of the shows. He cannot be permitted now to explain away the said commitments in relation to duration. Throughout the conduct of the first set of shows up to May, 1980, both sides proceeded on certain understanding, have no hesitation in holding that the initial permission did not extend beyond May, 1980. The petitioner invokes the principle of promissory estoppel and submits that the Reserve Bank cannot be permitted to go ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on the said instructions is not the same as showing cause before the authorities. He submits that it is a matter of common knowledge that the foreign artistes have regularly been performing the shows in various top hotels of this country. He submits that he will be able to produce the evidence before the authorities. He then submits that the Reserve Bank was itself of the opinion that section 30 of the Act was not attracted in dealing with the petitioner's case. He submits that he would be able to demonstrate how section 30 is not applicable. The counsel then submits that an ice-show is not a floor show nor is it a cabaret and, therefore, the said instructions of the Ministry of Finance are not applicable. It do not find that the counsel has made out any effective case for remanding the matter to the Reserve Bank and to give a fresh show-cause notice to the petitioner. Since the Reserve Bank is not free to take any decision contrary to the instructions of the Ministry Of Finance, it will be a futile exercise. The petitioner has already addressed me on the question of the applicability of the said circular. The learned counsel for the petitioner contended (on the basis of the dict ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) ! "What is claimed is that the restriction ought not to be imposed where the tour abroad does not directly impinge on the foreign exchange resources, or involve the release of foreign exchange. But that is too limited a view of the powers and functions of the appellant-bank, and we definitely consider that the matter should be judged, not merely in relation to the facts of a given instance, but in relation to a policy, and to the conceivable consequences, direct or indirect, of a large number of such cases". The submission of the petitioner is, therefore, rejected. Mr. Shanti Bhusan, appearing for the Reserve Bank, frankly conceded that if the disclosure of grounds in the counter-affidavit is to be treated as a show-cause notice, the ice-shows conducted by the petitioner, till the decision of this petition, cannot be called in question. I agree with the counsel for the RBI. The ice-shows held till the decision of this writ petition will have to be accepted as without any blame. The extension of the date of the show-cause notice will naturally extend the period of permission to hold such shows. For the reasons stated above, the writ petition fails with costs. The rule is dischar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
