Official Gazette publication controls foreign trade notification commencement, while express letter of credit exemptions may validly use an earlier cut-off.

A subordinate foreign trade notification became operative only on publication in the Official Gazette, so an earlier trade notice did not itself trigger the import restriction. The notification's exemption for imports under irrevocable letters of credit was confined to letters entered into before the date stated in the notification, and that specific stipulation prevailed over the general policy language. The challenge to validity also failed because the notification was treated as an act of the Central Government, with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade functioning only as the issuing office. The notification was therefore upheld in full and the writ petitions were dismissed.

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Issues: (i) Whether the Minimum Import Price notification became effective only upon publication in the Official Gazette and not from the earlier trade notice date; (ii) whether the exemption for imports or shipments under irrevocable letters of credit applied only to letters of credit entered into before the date mentioned in the notification; (iii) whether the notification was invalid on the ground that it was issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade instead of the Central Government.

Issue (i): Whether the Minimum Import Price notification became effective only upon publication in the Official Gazette and not from the earlier trade notice date.

Analysis: The statutory scheme required orders under Section 3 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 to be published in the Official Gazette. Publication was the mode by which the subordinate legislation was brought into force. The earlier trade notice may have informed the public of the proposed measure, but it did not make the restriction operative. The notification therefore operated only from the date on which it was published in the Official Gazette.

Conclusion: The notification took effect only from the date of Gazette publication and not from the earlier trade notice date.

Issue (ii): Whether the exemption for imports or shipments under irrevocable letters of credit applied only to letters of credit entered into before the date mentioned in the notification.

Analysis: Paragraph 2 of the notification expressly limited the exemption to imports or shipments under irrevocable letters of credit entered into before the date of the notification. That stipulation prevailed over the general language in paragraph 1.05(b) of the Foreign Trade Policy, because the policy itself yielded where the notification otherwise stipulated. The relevant date for this exemption was the date stated in the notification and not the later date of Gazette publication.

Conclusion: The exemption was confined to irrevocable letters of credit entered into before the date stated in the notification, namely 5 February 2016.

Issue (iii): Whether the notification was invalid on the ground that it was issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade instead of the Central Government.

Analysis: The notification itself stated that the Central Government amended the import policy conditions. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade acted only as the issuing office and not as a delegate exercising powers under Section 6(3) of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992. Since powers under Sections 3 and 5 of the Act were not delegated, and the notification was traceable to the Central Government, no invalidity arose on that ground. Article 77 of the Constitution of India also supported the validity of executive action expressed through the proper governmental channel.

Conclusion: The notification was valid and was an act of the Central Government.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the notification failed in full. The Court upheld its operative date, the limited exemption for pre-existing irrevocable letters of credit, and its validity, and the writ petitions were dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: A subordinate legislative notification under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 becomes operative only on publication in the Official Gazette, but an express exemption within the notification may validly refer to an earlier date and override the general policy language to that extent; the notification remains valid if it is in substance the act of the Central Government.

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