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TMI Blog2005 (7) TMI 110X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... had to authorise such persons to appear in the Examination. Persons who have been successful in the Examinations must further fulfill all the conditions laid down in Regulation 10 to become entitled for the issuance of a regular license. It is not without cause that the Petitioners have contended that the present regular licenses have succeeded in keeping others out of their trade. 3. It is relevant to mention that the employers of some of the persons endeavoring to become license holders had unsuccessfully challenged the provisions of the 1984 Regulations before the Hon'ble Supreme Count in Federation of Customs House Agents Association v. Union of India, 1997 (91) E.L.T. 519 (S.C.) = AIR 1996 SC 2513. 4. The cartel or monopoly of the holders of regular licenses had been perpetuated under the 1984 Regulations, but is additionally sought to be continued by collective action of the holders of regular licenses. This is for obvious reasons. If more persons are granted licenses the vocation would pass into additional hands, a prospect which would obviously not be looked upon with favour by the Federation. The Petitioners had successfully appeared in the Examinations conducted by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ulations, 1984 have been rescinded w.e.f. 23-2-2004 and new Custom House Agent Licensing Regulation, 2004 have been promulgated w.e.f. 23-2-2004 vide Notification No. 21/2004-CUS. (N.T.), dated. 23-2-2004 issued by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, New Delhi. As the Custom House Agent Licensing Regulations of 2004 notified by the Ministry vide Notification number mentioned supra does not contain any provision for grant of temporary licenses for appointment of custom house agents, it is not possible to process further with regard to 563 applications received under Public Notice No. 25/2003, dated 20-6-2003. All the applications pending with the department received under the Public Notice No. 25/2003 cannot be considered for the intended purpose and therefore stand disposed of accordingly. This Custom House [Agent] shall, however, call for fresh applications for grant of Custom House Agent license as and when may be warranted. The present applicants are free to file their applications at that time and the same shall be considered on merits as per the CHALR, 2004. This public notice is issued without prejudice to the contentions raised by the petitioners in the writ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... c Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange Gateway (ICEGATE) and Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange Systems (ICES)". Mr. Nag has also drawn attention to the fact that Regulation 6 has undergone a change in that, apart from graduates other persons holding professional degrees, Group A officers of the Indian Customs and Central Excise Services have also been made eligible. The Petitioners are not contesting the widening of the net. The fact remains that under Regulation 6 the Petitioners remained fully eligible for consideration. Mr. Nag contends that in assessing the legality of the administrative action of not considering the applications of the Petitioners Wednesbury reasonableness has to be taken into consideration. It is his submission that there is no procedural irregularity, no illegality and also no irrationality in the impugned action. This submission is difficult to accept. This principle has been explained in Tata Cellular v. Union of India, - (1994) 6 SCC 651 as is evident from the following extract : The duty of the court is to confine itself to the question of legality, its concern should be : 1. Whether a decision-making authority exceeded its powers? 2. Comm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... It is also significant that the Respondent should have carried out an enquiry further, that is, under Regulations 6 and 8 of the old Regulations in order to determine whether successful candidates fulfilled all the concomitants for the grant of licenses under the Regulations. This action has not been taken till date and the only possible and reasonable assumption must be that the Petitioners fulfill all the requirements stipulated in the 1984 Regulations. Furthermore, in considering whether Wednesbury reasonableness exists, one must also investigate the purpose behind the change in Regulations. The effort was to simplify the grant of licenses as per the Kelkar Committee. In actual effect, it has been seen that only clause (q) of Regulation 8(6) is a fresh inclusion. The present case is not one where Petitioners have become ineligible for the grant of licenses because of changes brought out in the 2004 Regulations. The decision to cancel the invitation for grant of licenses by the Public Notice issued in June, 2003, is therefore, not in consonance with Wednesbury reasonableness. 11. A person appears in an examination on the basis of Regulations then in existence with the legitimat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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