Appellate authority under foreign exchange law must be shown before an enforcement appeal can be maintained.

Under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, an appeal by the Director of Enforcement was held incompetent where no statutory provision or governmental authorisation was shown to confer authority to institute it. The Court accepted the preliminary objection that, in the absence of demonstrated authority from the Act or the Central Government, the Director could not maintain the appeal against the appellate order. The proper authority to challenge such an order was the Central Government, and the appeal was therefore not maintainable at the Director's instance.

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Issues: Whether the appeal filed by the Director of Enforcement was competent and maintainable when no statutory or governmental authorisation to prefer the appeal was shown.

Analysis: The appeal arose from proceedings under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973. The Court accepted the objection that the Director of Enforcement had not demonstrated any authority, either under the statute or by an of the Central Government, to institute the appeal. The Court followed the view that, in the absence of such authority, the appeal could not be maintained by the Director of Enforcement and that the proper authority to challenge the appellate order was the Central Government.

Conclusion: The appeal was incompetent and not maintainable at the instance of the Director of Enforcement, and the preliminary objection was upheld.

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