Customs House Agent licensing rules: G Form pass requirement applies to the person doing the work, not every proprietor.

Regulation 6 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984 must be read harmoniously with Regulation 5 and the prescribed forms under the Customs Act scheme. The qualification requirements concerning graduation, prior employment under a licensee, and possession of a permanent G Form pass apply to the person actually carrying out customs clearing work, whether that person is the applicant or an authorised employee. They do not automatically attach to every proprietor, partner, or director. On that construction, refusal of a temporary Customs House Agent licence solely because the proprietor did not personally hold a G Form pass was unsustainable, and the application had to be reconsidered on the correct interpretation.

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Issues: Whether Regulation 6 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984 required the proprietor/applicant himself to be a graduate, an employee of a licensee, and a holder of a permanent G Form pass, and whether the refusal to grant a temporary Customs House Agent licence on the ground that the petitioner did not personally hold a G Form pass was sustainable.

Analysis: Section 146 of the Customs Act, 1962 empowers the Board to frame regulations governing licences for customs agents, including the qualifications of applicants and of persons employed by them. Read with Regulation 5, the scheme permits an application by an individual, firm, or company, and it recognises that the person actually engaged in clearance work may be the applicant himself or an authorised employee. Regulation 6 must therefore be construed in context and harmoniously with Regulation 5, Regulation 8, Regulation 20, and the prescribed forms. On that construction, the expressions in Regulation 6 relating to graduation, employment under a licensee, and possession of a permanent G Form pass apply to the person who actually performs the clearing work, not necessarily to every proprietor, partner, or director as such. A contrary reading would create an anomalous and discriminatory result between individual applicants and firms or companies.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not required to hold a personal G Form pass merely because he was the proprietor. The refusal of temporary licence on that ground could not stand, and the matter was directed to be reconsidered afresh.

Final Conclusion: The impugned orders were quashed to the extent that they treated the petitioner's personal non-possession of a G Form pass as a disqualification, and the authority was required to reconsider the application in accordance with the correct interpretation of the regulations.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the licensing regulations permit the work of a customs agent to be carried out by the applicant or by an authorised employee, the qualifications tied to G Form pass possession attach to the person actually performing the work and not automatically to the proprietor or applicant in every case; the regulations must be read harmoniously to avoid discriminatory construction.

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