(1.) Civil Writ Petition Nos. 18471 and 18876 of 1998 involve identical questions of law and fact. These can, consequently, be disposed of by a common order. A few facts may be briefly noticed.
(2.) The petitioner is engaged in the business of export and import of goods. On September 8, 1998, the petitioner was granted a licence for the import of 3000 Mt. tonnes of Khas Khas' (poppy seeds). This licence was issued subject to the condition of producing "a valid certificate from the competent authority of the country of origin to the effect that opium poppy has been grown licitly/legally in that country as per requirements of the International Narcotics Control Board......." The petitioner was permitted to import the poppy seeds from "the country of origin - Pakistan, Afganistan, Turkey and Australia .........." In this licence, it was also stipulated that the petitioner shall have to actually use the imported goods. However, this condition was subsequently deleted.
(3.) It appears that immediately on the receipt of this import licence, the petitioner entered into an agreement with a supplier in Pakistan for the import of 1500 Mt. tonnes of poppy seeds. A copy of the fax message has been produced as Annexure P-7 with Civil Writ Petition No. 18876 of 1998. A few days later, on September 23, 1998, the petitioner opened a letter of credit in favour of the foreign supplier, viz. "A. Razzak and Company" for 10500 US dollars. Thereafter, on September 28 and September 29, 1998, the petitioner placed two more orders for the additional supply of 577 Mt. tonnes of poppy seeds. Letters of credit were also opened for the additional amounts on November 14 and November 21, 1998. Copies of the orders placed by the petitioner have been produced as Annexures P-11 and P-10, while those of the letters of credit are as Annexures P-12 and P-13 respectively.