TMI Blog2009 (1) TMI 280X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... made by the respondent was under consideration by the authorities, it was unfair for the respondent to approach the writ court. At the same time, it was also not the case of the respondent that there was an inordinate delay in considering his request by the appellants. In such circumstances, the learned single Judge ought to have primarily looked into the maintainability of the Writ Petition itself. Instead, he ordered release of the goods, which, in our view, is not justiciable. - 938 of 2008 - - - Dated:- 12-1-2009 - S.J. Mukhopadhaya, A.C.J. and V. Dhanapalan, J. [Judgment per : V. Dhanapalan, J.]. - Respondent imported 132 units of old and used Photocopiers with accessories from Singapore for a total value of USD 33,015. On ar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ide. 5. Conversely, learned counsel for the respondent would submit that once the goods have arrived at the port of destination, the respondent is entitled to have the goods cleared without undue delay and the authorities were under statutory obligation to perform their duties, which was not done, and, hence, the order passed by the learned single Judge does not warrant any interference. 6. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and also gone through the records, coupled with the order impugned. 7. Clause 2.17 of the Exim Policy, as amended by Government of India vide Notification No. 31 (RE-2005)/2004-2009, dated 19th October, 2005, is quite necessary for deciding the issue in question. The said clause reads as follows : ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Department. When such discrepancies exist, the authorities can have a breathing time and cannot be hastened to act swiftly on the request made by the respondent. It is also not the case of the respondent that the goods were of perishable nature. Though the learned counsel for the respondent cited a catena of unreported decisions of this Court ordering conditional release of the goods, we are of the considered opinion, that, in view of non-possession of licence, which is mandatory for release of the specific goods in question, as per Clause 2.17 of the Exim Policy, the said decisions cannot be applicable to the case on hand. In the given situation, the learned single Judge ought not to have ordered the release of the goods in a hasty ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in a recent decision in Director, Horticulture, Punjab Others v. Jagjivan Parsad, 2008 AIR SCW 2858, wherein, in para 7, it is held thus : "7. Even in respect of administrative orders, Lord Denning, M.R. in Breen v. Amalgamated Engg. Union [(1971) 1 All ER 1148] observed : (All ER p. 1154h) "The giving of reasons is one of the fundamentals of good administration." In Alexander Machinery (Dudley) Ltd. v. Crabtree [1974 1 CR 120), it was observed : "Failure to give reasons amounts to denial of justice. Reasons are live-links between the mind of the decision-taker to the controversy in question and the decision or conclusion arrived at." The above rationale was also followed by the Apex Court earlier in Chairman and Managing Director, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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