Prior notice and hearing are required for licence suspension unless immediate action is truly necessary; delayed action failed here.

Suspension of a custom house agent's licence under Regulation 21(2) was held unsustainable because the procedure under Regulation 23 required prior notice and hearing, and the emergency exception applied only where immediate action was genuinely necessary. A suspension ordered in 1998 for an incident said to have occurred in 1994 could not be treated as immediate action after such delay. The impugned order was therefore found invalid on the point of law, and the licence suspension was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the suspension of the custom house agent's licence under Regulation 21(2) of the Custom House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984 could be sustained without prior notice or hearing, and whether the alleged need for immediate action was made out after a long delay.

Analysis: The Tribunal held that the procedure prescribed under Regulation 23 was required to be followed and that Regulation 21(2) was only an exception where immediate action was necessary. The suspension was ordered in 1998 in respect of an that had occurred in 1994, and such delayed action could not be treated as immediate. The impugned order was therefore found to be unsustainable on the point of law.

Conclusion: The suspension order was invalid and could not be sustained; the appeal succeeded and the licence suspension was set aside.

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