TAPARIA OVERSEAS P LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE legal debate raised in these conjoint petitions centers around common saying from law books, that fraud vitiates everything. This debate is raised in the petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, challenging the action of the Revenue, the Custom Authorities in withholding the clearance of the goods described as "polyester Filament Yarn" imported by the petitioners under the licences acquired and held by them as transferees for value without notice of the alleged fraud.

(2.) THE petitioners are different but the issues involved are identical so a single judgment will dispose of all these writ petitions. We propose to discuss the facts drawn from Writ Petition No. 3343 of 1987 (M/s. Taparia Overseas (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India) as the facts involved in all other petitions are more or less similar except with some minor variations which have no bearing on ultimate decision of these petitions.

(3.) BRIEF background facts sketched from the above petition are as under: background FACTS: the petitioners had acquired 2 licences both dated 2nd March, 1987 issued under the provisions of Import (Control) Order, 1955 (the Order for short) in favour of one M/s. Suraj Textiles Traders, New Delhi, in terms of Appendix 21 of Import/export Policy, Vo. I, 1985-88 by the Deputy Chief Controller of Import/export, New Delhi, for import of Polyster Filament Yarn. It had been acquired by the petitioners in terms of paras 225 and 226 of the Import Export Policy 1985-88 (the import export policy for short ).