Customs House Agent licence suspension requires a clear nexus to alleged misconduct and adequate reasons; delay alone is insufficient.

A Customs House Agent licence suspension was found unsustainable where the alleged irregularities in shipping bills were relied on long after the events, without a satisfactory explanation for the delay or a clear nexus between the misconduct alleged and the date of suspension. A mere doubt about the genuineness of an address was held insufficient to justify such a serious coercive step. The suspension could not be sustained as a positive measure in the absence of adequate reasons, and the order was revoked and set aside.

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Issues: Whether the suspension of the Customs House Agent licence, imposed long after the alleged misconduct and without a satisfactory nexus to the alleged act, was justified.

Analysis: The suspension was founded on alleged irregularities in shipping bills filed much earlier, while the suspension order was passed only after a substantial delay. The absence of a satisfactory explanation for the delay and the lack of a clear nexus between the alleged misconduct and the date of suspension weighed against sustaining the order. A mere doubt about the genuineness of an address was held insufficient to justify suspension. Suspension was treated as a serious coercive step that could not be resorted to as a positive measure in the absence of adequate reasons.

Conclusion: The suspension order was required to be revoked and set aside.

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