Export incentive threshold, not cap, under the Foreign Trade Policy; claims above the limit must be examined on merits.

The Delhi High Court construed the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014 and the Handbook of Procedure as creating a scrutiny threshold, not an entitlement cap, for the Incremental Export Incentivisation Scheme. It held that claims exceeding Rs. 1 crore were not barred, because the inserted provisions required greater examination by the Regional Authority and a cap reading would make the linked procedural clause redundant. Applying a purposive and harmonious interpretation to this beneficial export incentive scheme, the Court concluded that applications could not be rejected merely because the aggregate claim exceeded Rs. 1 crore and had to be assessed on merits.

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Issues: Whether the amount of Rs. 1 crore mentioned in clause (i) of paragraph 3.14.5(c) of the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014 was an upper cap on the Incremental Export Incentivisation Scheme for the financial year 2013-14, or only a threshold beyond which claims would be subjected to greater scrutiny.

Analysis: Notification No. 43(RE-2013)/2009-2014 inserted clauses (i) and (ii) into paragraph 3.14.5(c), while Public Notice No. 28/2009-2014(RE-2013) simultaneously added the procedural framework in paragraph 3.8.3(e) of the Handbook of Procedure. Read together, these provisions showed that claims above the specified value were not barred, but were to receive greater scrutiny by the Regional Authority. Construing clause (i) as a cap would render clause (ii) redundant and would defeat the object of the incentive scheme. The scheme being beneficial in nature, it had to receive a purposive and harmonious interpretation that advanced export promotion rather than curtailed the benefit by implication.

Conclusion: Rs. 1 crore was not an upper limit on entitlement. The petitioners were entitled to have their claims examined on merits, and the applications could not be rejected merely because the aggregate claim exceeded Rs. 1 crore.

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