Import policy conditions must align with statutory exemptions; a registration precondition for non-insecticidal boric acid was invalid.

A subordinate import condition requiring registration under the Insecticides Act, 1968 before importing boric acid for non-insecticidal use was invalid because it conflicted with the statutory exemption for substances used for industrial or other non-insecticidal purposes. Section 9(1) governs registration of insecticides, but Section 38 excludes the exempted substance from that regime when so intended, so the authorities were not obliged to process a registration request for that use. A condition that cannot be complied with in law and is inconsistent with the parent and allied plenary legislation is arbitrary and unreasonable; the impugned import-condition was therefore unsustainable and liable to be quashed.

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Issues: Whether the import policy could validly require a registration under the Insecticides Act, 1968, as a precondition for importing boric acid for non-insecticidal use.

Analysis: The power to frame import policy under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 was not in dispute, but the impugned condition had to conform to the Insecticides Act, 1968. Section 9(1) governs registration of insecticides, while Section 38 exempts substances in the Schedule when intended for purposes other than as an insecticide. Since boric acid falls within that exempt category when imported for industrial or other non-insecticidal purposes, the authorities under the Insecticides Act were not obliged to entertain a registration request for such use. A subordinate instrument cannot impose a condition that is inconsistent with the parent and allied plenary law, and a condition that is incapable of compliance in law is arbitrary and unreasonable.

Conclusion: The registration requirement in the import policy was unsustainable and liable to be quashed.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions succeeded because the impugned import-condition conflicted with the statutory exemption under the Insecticides Act and failed the test of reasonableness under Article 14.

Ratio Decidendi: A subordinate legislative condition must conform not only to the enabling Act but also to other applicable plenary legislation, and a precondition that contradicts a statutory exemption and is legally incapable of compliance is arbitrary and invalid.

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