Import policy interpretation allowed fax machine imports under Additional Licences; confiscation and penalties were held unsustainable.

Additional Licences under the 1988-91 Import Policy were construed to permit import of fax machines, because paragraph 215 for Export/Trading Houses allowed non-OGL capital goods and did not import the restriction in paragraph 177(2)(ii) applicable to REP licences. The specific treatment of fax machines in paragraph 118 for Registered Exporters was not extended to Additional Licences. Printed licence conditions could not override the policy, and an undisclosed departmental letter could not be relied on against importers without supply, as that would breach natural justice. On that basis, the imports were treated as valid and the confiscation, redemption fine, and penalties were unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether fax machines were permissible for import under Additional Licences during the 1988-91 Import Policy period, and whether confiscation, redemption fine, and penalty could be sustained on that basis.

Analysis: The relevant Additional Licences were construed with the Import Policy provisions governing Export/Trading Houses. Paragraph 215, which applied to Additional Licences, permitted non-OGL capital goods and did not impose the restriction found in paragraph 177(2)(ii) for REP licences on office machines under paragraph 118. Fax machines were specifically dealt with under paragraph 118 in the context of Registered Exporters, and that restriction was not read into paragraph 215. The conditions printed on the reverse of the licences did not prevent the imports, and the departmental letter purporting to prohibit such imports could not override the policy or be relied upon against the importers without supply of a copy, as that would offend natural justice. Since the imports were permissible under the licences and the applicable policy framework, the consequential confiscation and penalties had no basis.

Conclusion: The imports were valid under the Additional Licences, and the confiscation, redemption fine, and penalties were unsustainable.

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