Letters of authority under earlier import policy survived later policy changes; confiscation could not rest on their withdrawal.

An export house holding an additional import licence under the 1978-79 Import Policy retained the facility to issue letters of authority for imports, because that mode of import formed part of the entitlement conferred by the earlier policy and the corresponding Hand Book procedure. The 1985-88 Import Policy could govern banned-item imports for the relevant year, but it did not withdraw the authority already attached to the earlier licence. Reliance on a Supreme Court ruling was distinguished as addressing only the prohibition on banned imports, not the separate question of the permissible mode of import. On that basis, confiscation proceedings founded on the contrary view could not stand.

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Issues: Whether an Export House holding an additional import licence under the Import Policy of 1978-79 retained the facility to issue letters of authority for imports, notwithstanding the later Import Policy of 1985-88.

Analysis: The additional licence and the manner of its use had to be read with the Import Policy of 1978-79 and the Hand Book of Import-Export Procedures for that year. Paragraph 7 of the Hand Book permitted a licence-holder to appoint an agent and issue a letter of authority subject to the prescribed conditions. The right to import under the licence therefore carried with it the mode of import then permitted, and that facility formed part of the entitlement acquired under the earlier policy. The later policy could regulate imports of banned items for the year of import, but it did not withdraw the facility already attached to the earlier licence to issue letters of authority. The observations in the Supreme Court decision relied upon by the respondents concerned only the prohibition on importing banned items and did not decide the distinct question of the manner of import.

Conclusion: The facility to issue letters of authority under the 1978-79 policy was not taken away by the 1985-88 policy, and the impugned confiscation proceedings based on the contrary view could not stand.

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