Customs house agent licence renewal must run for three years; initial business-outturn criteria cannot be imposed again.

Under the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984, a regular customs house agent licence is valid for three years and renewal is provided for a further three-year period on timely application. The licensing authority has no implied power to shorten renewal to one year or to vary the renewal term at its discretion. The business-outturn requirement prescribed for initial grant under Regulation 10(1)(a) is a screening condition for first issuance and is not shown to apply to renewal. In the absence of an express renewal condition, that requirement cannot be imported by implication at the renewal stage.

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Issues: Whether, under the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984, renewal of a regular customs house agent licence had to be granted for the full three-year period and whether the licensing authority could insist at the renewal stage on the business-outturn condition prescribed for the initial grant of licence.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under Section 146(2) of the Customs Act, 1962 and Regulations 10 and 12 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984 fixes the validity of a regular licence at three years and permits renewal for a further period of three years on application before expiry. The regulations do not confer a power to renew for a shorter period, and no provision authorises the authority to rewrite the duration of renewal according to its own discretion. The condition relating to quantity or value of cargo cleared, prescribed for grant of a regular licence under Regulation 10(1)(a), is a screening requirement for initial grant and is not shown to be a statutory condition for renewal. In the absence of an express provision authorising re-testing of eligibility at renewal, the authority cannot import such a requirement by implication or impose an onerous condition not found in the regulations.

Conclusion: The renewal could not lawfully be restricted to one year, and the business-outturn condition could not be insisted upon at the renewal stage. The petitioner was entitled to renewal of the licence for three years.

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