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TMI Blog2017 (7) TMI 151X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vide order no.04/2006 dated 12th June 2006, in exercise of powers under regulation no. 20 of Custom House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004 ordered forfeiture of security deposit of Rs. 10,000/-. The Committee of Chief Commissioners, in exercise of power under section 129D of Customs Act, 1962 directed the Commissioner of Customs (General), Mumbai - I to file an appeal before this Tribunal to decide whether the failure on his part to revoke the license was legal, correct and proper. The licensee-agent is also an appeal before us seeking to have the impugned order set aside. That appeal has been filed under regulation no.22(8) of Custom House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004. 3. None appeared for the licensee-agent. We have heard Learned Authorised Representative appearing on behalf of Commissioner of Customs (General), Mumbai-I. It is seen from the records that the agent, as well as the two employees, had also been proceeded against under the penal provisions of Customs Act, 1962 but were exonerated by the adjudicating authority. We also find in the impugned order that the Commissioner of Customs has noted the report of the inquiry authority which had held all the four charges ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ars to fails to be described as an adjudication orders that may be appealed against before this Tribunal, we were treated to a replay of the hoary chestnut that all orders under the Customs Act, 1962 are adjudication orders. We have no doubt that this may be thought to be but, if that were so, the pertinent question that remains unanswered is the legal authority for a review of the impugned order. That aspect has been addressed in the decision in re Mukadam Freight Systems Pvt Ltd. 8. The institution of 'custom house agents' is a characteristic of the customs regulatory mechanism; at the same time, it is not unique to this country but is universally recognised as a facilitation catalyst for clearance of cargo. The geographical distance between the entry/exit hubs and the location of the importer/exporter, as well the complexities of procedures, warrants professional representation that may not be available in-house. Consequently, in a statute that is essentially concerned with the power to levy tax, with procedure for recovery of tax and with enumeration of offences and penalties, special provision have been enacted to accord legal status, and thereby to exercise statutory control ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... volve on the licensee, the consequences of disregard of these obligations and the remedies available to a licensee visited with detriment. These flow from the vesting of powers in the parent provision which, inter alia, designates the Regulations as the source of the appellate remedies available. Regulation 22 has, unambiguously, made available such remedies only to the agent/broker and none other. Therefore, unlike the appellate remedies prescribed in the Customs Act, 1962, in relation to collection of revenue and other attendant functions, that are available to the assessee as well as to Revenue, it is only the detriment that impacts an agent/broker that can be agitated before the designated appellate authority. No provision exists in the Regulations for an appeal by the other side. The challenge before us is, therefore, outside the ambit of the Regulations. 12. The question that would naturally arise in consequence is whether, in the absence of a special provision, the general mandate of the sovereign legislature can, as Learned Authorised Representative appeared to suggest, be resorted to. If the existence of a special provision would erase the recourse to the general provisio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion application as directed against the Session Judge's order. For us to permit recourse to the general provision in section 129D of Customs Act, 1962 merely because of the absence of such a remedy in the Regulations and for convenience of some executive authority would be tantamount to proclaiming that our perspicacity is superior to that of the sovereign legislative organ - an overreach that we will not even deign to consider. 13. We have already premised a creator-creature relationship between the licensing authority and the licensee. It is an established principle that detrimental consequence to the creature can be set in motion only by the author of its being. The license is issued by the Commissioner of Customs. It is the sole prerogative of the licensor to terminate the license and erase the license out of existence. That prerogative cannot be usurped by any other authority, howsoever well-placed it may be. Insofar as creatures are concerned, the creator is 'the be-all and end-all', 'the Alpha and the Omega'. There can be no doubt that, with the operation of agent/broker being limited to functioning within the custom house, it is the Commissioner of Customs who has the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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