TMI Blog2016 (1) TMI 878X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... A.K. Prabhakar, Advocate For the Respondent : Shri S.J. Sahu, Assistant Commissioner (A.R) ORDER Per : P.S. Pruthi The appellant is a company who held Customs Broker License No. 11/461 issued under Custom House Agent Licensing Regulations (CHALR) 2004 now CBLR 2013. The License was valid till 31.12.2013. Their employee Mrs. Rincku Nagda, a Regulation 8 qualified employee, based on which the Custom Brokering (CB) License was operational, resigned on 6.6.2012. As the company could not employ another Regulation 8/9 qualified person for some time,the Commissioner made the license inoperative on 22.1.2013. As the CB license expired on 31.12.2013 and the company could appoint another qualified Regulation 9 person and informed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... activity which was banned by the Supreme Court. 3. The Ld. AR reiterated the findings of the Commissioner. He relied on the Mumbai High Court judgment in the case of S.R. Sale Co. Vs. Commissioner of Customs (General), Mumbai 2013 (295) E.L.T. 653 (Bom.) in which it was held that appeal is not maintainable against an order of prohibition under Regulation 21 and (now Regulation 23) appeal is maintainable to the Tribunal only against suspension or revocation of the license under Regulation 20. 4. We have carefully considered the contentions of both sides. As the AR has questioned the maintainability of the appeal, we may first take up this issue. We find that Section 146 (2) of the Customs Act provides that the Board may make Regulat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... templates that the Regulations are intended to fulfill the purpose of carrying out of the provisions of the section. That the Regulations may also govern the remedies which are available to a CHA against an order passed in the disciplinary jurisdiction is made abundantly clear by clause (f) of Section 146(2). Section 146(2)(f) clarifies by way of illustration that the Regulations can govern the appeals, if any, against orders of suspension or revocation. If recourse to the general power of an appeal under Section 129A was intended by Parliament to be available in disciplinary matters involving CHAs, there was no necessity of including a provision such as that which is contained in Section 146(2)(f). The provisions of Section 129A have to be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te or, as in the present case, the creation of a statutory provision (Section 146) read together with the regulations. A CHA is, however, not without remedy against an order of prohibition which is amenable to the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution. 4.1 The reliance placed by the Ld. Counsel in the case of Gannon Dunkerley Co. Ltd. is not acceptable as that case was on a different footing. It related to operation of the license when the qualified person of the Customs Broker was available. The case did not relate to a license which had already expired as in the present case. In the present case the appellant had failed to appoint a Regulation 8/9 qualified employee before the expiry of the license. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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