AMERICAN DRY FRUIT STORES Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) WHETHER a statutory order could be displaced or modified by a public notice; whether such a modification would effect the doctrine of incorporation and whether the representation made to the statutory order, if acted upon, could be withdrawn in the summary manner, are some of the assorted questions that are posed in this proceeding. The compass of controversy is comparatively short and the facts are equally short. To understand the thrust of the controversy only a few aspects serving as land marks, could be mentioned at this stage itself.

(2.) THE petitioners are a firm registered under the Partnership Act and they carry on business of manufacturing, exporting and delaing in food products and importing for their business raw materials and other goods for stock and sale. The second respondent in the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports at New Delhi; the 3rd Respondent is the Joint Chief Controller of Imports and Exports at Bombay while the 4th Respondent is the Collector of Customs at Bombay and the 1st Respondent is the Union of India.

(3.) AN order of April 1, 1986 is the starting point which ultimately generated the disputes and the controversies. Such an order was passed under sections 3 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947 (shortly the Act) and it was issued by the 1st Respondent styled as Import Trade Control Order (the Order) No. 49/85-88 dated April 1, 1986 whereby the 1st Respondent gave general permission to import into India goods of the description specified in the Schedule annexed to the said order subject to the conditions specified therein. This Order is also designated as Open General Licence No. 15/86 (OGL ). Item No. 8 in the said Schedule to that Order is the pivot around which revolve the whole structure of the controversy. Under that item Crude Drugs which were required for Ayurvedic and Unani medicines, as appearing in List No. 4 in Appendix 6 of the Import and Export Policy for 1985-88 (the Policy), were permitted for the import under the Order with certain conditions and what is more relevance and utmost important in the wake of the controversy is that the said commodity could be imported by any person for stock and sale purposes. List 4 of Appendix 6 relates to two items at Srl. Nos. 47 and 48 i. e. Darchini (bark) and Lavang, Laung (Flower bud ).