Export-import policy prevails over administrative instructions; poppy seed import conditions cannot be expanded outside the statutory framework.

A statutory export-import policy framed under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 cannot be enlarged or diluted by public notice, circulars, letters, or other administrative instructions. The earlier order on poppy seed imports, which limited the authority to three prescribed conditions, had not been challenged and continued to govern. The Court noted that any change to the policy had to be made by the Central Government in accordance with law. The application therefore had to be entertained and decided under the existing policy and the earlier order, and the petitioner succeeded.

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Issues: Whether the second respondent was bound to entertain the petitioner's application for import of poppy seeds in accordance with the earlier order and could not impose conditions beyond those prescribed in the EXIM policy.

Analysis: The earlier judgment had held that, under the Export-Import Policy framed in exercise of power under Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, the authority could insist only on the three stipulated conditions for import of poppy seeds and could not add further requirements by public notice or administrative communication. The Court noted that the earlier order had not been challenged and continued to hold the field. It also held that circulars, letters, and administrative instructions cannot override the statutory policy, and any change in the policy had to be made by the Central Government in the manner known to law.

Conclusion: The application had to be entertained and decided in accordance with law and in light of the earlier order; the petitioner succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory export-import policy cannot be diluted or expanded by administrative instructions, and an authority exercising delegated power must confine itself to the conditions expressly prescribed by the policy until it is lawfully amended.

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