PREMIER LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Common question of law involved in all these writ petitions is, whether, an appeal against the adjudication orders passed by the Assistant Director / Deputy Director of Encroachment under the repealed provisions of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 ( FERA for short) read with Section 49 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 ( FEMA for short) is maintainable before the Special Director (Appeals) appointed under FEMA. In all these cases, the Special Director (Appeals) has dismissed the appeals as not maintainable. As the issue involved in all these cases is common, all these petitions are heard together and disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) FERA was enacted in the year 1973 inter alia for the conservation of the foreign exchange resources of the country and proper utilisation thereof in the interests of the economic development of the country. FERA was repealed and replaced by FEMA with effect from 1st June, 2000. Section 49 of FEMA reads as follows :

(3.) Under FERA, appeals against the orders passed by all the Adjudicating Authorities were maintainable before the Appellate Board constituted under FERA. While repealing FERA and enacting FEMA with effect from 1st June, 2000, the legislature provided in Section 49 of FEMA that the Appellate Board constituted under FERA shall stand dissolved and the persons appointed as Chairman and other members of the Appellate Board shall vacate their offices on commencement of FEMA. Thus, on repeal of FERA though the substantive right of appeal vested in a litigant in respect of the pending proceedings as well as the proceedings to be initiated upto 31st May, 2002 are preserved, the forum instituting of appeal before the Appellate Board constituted under FERA is expressly taken away under FEMA. As a result, from 1st June, 2000 all appeals against the adjudication orders passed under FERA have to be instituted before the Appellate forum provided under FEMA.