Timely additional licence application under import-export policy cannot be rejected as a mere revival of a defective earlier request.

Paragraph 203(1) of the 1983-84 Import and Export Policy allowed an application for an additional licence within two months of obtaining the renewed trading house certificate. A later request made within eight days of renewal, enclosing the certificate and seeking issue of the licence, was a fresh and timely application, not a mere revival of an earlier defective request made when no valid certificate was in force. The rejection was based on an overly technical reading of the correspondence and disregarded the policy entitlement. The application for an additional licence was therefore entitled to consideration on merits.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner's application for an additional licence, filed within two months of receipt of the renewed trading house certificate, was valid under Paragraph 203(1) of the Import and Export Policy for 1983-84 and could be rejected on the ground that it was only a revival of the earlier defective application.

Analysis: Paragraph 203(1) of the 1983-84 policy conferred a right to apply for an additional licence within two months after securing the trading house certificate. The petitioner's earlier application was admittedly made when no valid certificate was in force, but after the renewed certificate was issued, the petitioner sent a fresh request within eight days enclosing the certificate and asking that the additional licence be issued. The correspondence made clear that the request was for grant of the licence, not revival of the earlier defective application. The rejection order proceeded on an unduly technical reading of the letter and ignored the policy entitlement and the fact that the later application was within time.

Conclusion: The rejection of the petitioner's application for an additional licence was unsustainable and the petitioner was entitled to consideration of the application on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing policy permits an application for an additional licence within a prescribed period after renewal of the relevant certificate, a request made within that period cannot be defeated by treating it as a mere revival of an earlier defective application if the later request substantively seeks the licence itself.

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