TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1996 (8) TMI 300
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....ance Licensing Committee consisted of technical persons, Customs Officers and other 10 persons which considered the petitioners' application for the said Advance Licence and as per the Advance Licence the Petitioner No. 1 was required to export Sea Food worth U.S.$ 28,10,000/- equivalent to Rs. 8,99,20,000/-. The 1st Petitioner was also issued the requisite Duty Exemption Entitlement Certificate in that behalf which mentioned the details of the items to be imported under the said Licence. It is the say of the petitioners that on the basis of the said licence the Petitioner No. 1 carried out export and submitted Bank Certificates in support thereof to the authorities concerned showing the export done by the 1st Petitioner and the amount of the Foreign Exchange earned by the Petitioners. It is their say that exports were completed before April, 1994. 3. Thereafter on 30th May, 1994 the petitioners filed an application for an endorsement of the Advance Licence for transferability as per Import Export Policy along with the original papers. Instead of endorsing the Licence, by letter dated 27th June, 1994 (Exhibit `H') the Petitioner No.1 was directed to surrender the Original A....
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....Government of India in public interest has laid down the norms for which public notice dated 20th January, 1995 was issued. Under the said norms the Petitioners were not entitled to import commodities as mentioned in the Advance Licence granted to them. Since the new norms came into force the Respondents were not in a position to comply with the interim orders passed by this Court. It is pointed out that when the Licence, Exhibit 'D' was issued the said norms were not fixed. The Department relied upon the information which was furnished by the Petitioners and the Advance Licensing Committee considered the application of the Petitioners and granted licence, but before the Petitioners could import the commodity the new norms have been laid down regarding fixing the quantities of the raw materials to be imported by the importers and the quantity required for the manufacture of export products for the export of every Metric Tonne of the commodity which the importer is exporting. In the affidavit in reply it is admitted that Advance Licensing Committee has issued Licence, Exhibit `D' as per the provisions of Export Policy in force at the relevant time by relying upon the details furnish....
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....ces." "50. A quantity based Advance Licence shall specify : (a) the names and description of items to be imported and exported; (b) the quantity of each item to be imported or, if the quantity cannot be indicated, the value of the item; (c) the CIF value of imports; and (d) the FOB value and quantity of exports. 51. The standard input-output norms for the imports and exports for the grant of both value based and quantity based Advance Licences and value addition norms for value based licences shall be in accordance with the norms published by the Director General of Foreign Trade in the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. 2). However, in respect of quantity based Advance Licences for which such standard, input-output norms have not been published, the quantitative norms will be as specified by the competent authority." 9. Considering the aforesaid paragraphs of the Import & Export Policy, it is apparent that to the Petitioners quantity based Advance Licence was given on the condition of fulfilling their export obligations as stated in the Advance Licence. With regard to export there is no dispute. Paragraph 51 of the Export & Import Polic....
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.... effect only from the date of its publication i.e. from 20th, January, 1995 and not from the earlier date. 10. The learned Counsel for the Petitioners for this purpose relied upon the observations made by the Supreme Court in the case of S.B. International Limited Etc. v. Asstt. Director General of E.T. & Ors. Etc., reported in 1996 (82) E.L.T. 164 (SC) = 1996 (8) CXLT (SC) Misc-1. In that case the Court was required to consider whether a vested right accruing to the Appellant for issuance of Advance Licences as per the value addition norm in vogue on the date of filing of the applications and whether any subsequent change in policy effected before the issuance of licences, is not applicable to such licences. In that context the Supreme Court observed as under : "By granting the Advance Licence, the licensing authority tells the licence am permitting you to import raw material components etc. of a particular value free of duties but you must export goods of a particular value (determined as per value addition norm in vogue on the date of licence) within a particular date. If you fail to do so, you will be liable to levy of penalties and other action according to law'. Th....