AI OCR 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2011 (6) TMI 445
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....ded with effect from 2.12.2005. After that a notice for revocation was issued under Regulation 22 of CHALR and the notice was adjudicated by the impugned order. As per the impugned order passed on 31.3.2009, the licence granted to the Appellant has been revoked. Aggrieved by the order, the Appellant is before the Tribunal. The Appellant submits that its proprietor Shri R.S. Saini has been out of business in the last six years and this has caused undue hardship to him since he has not been able to earn his livelihood. The Appellant represents that if at all there was any lapse on its part the punishment of keeping it out of business during the last six years is more than adequate punishment and now at least the licence should be restored. 2....
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....e name and style of M/s Jai Bhole Overseas Company, 39, A-12, Ph. VI, Focal Point, Ludhiana and that he was authorised signatory dealing with all the matters; that the said firm (M/s Jai Bhole Overseas Company) was started in year 2003 as a proprietorship concern with Mr. Ankush Khullar being the proprietor; that the firm stopped the business activity in March 2005 and he started business in the name of new company i.e. M/s Jai Bhole Impex (P) Ltd., Ludhiana where he was one of the directors along with Shri Ankush Khullar; that they had liened with Mr. R.S. Saini who was holding CHA Licence No. 04/CHA/REG/ASR/99; that Shri R.S. Saini used to sign all their customs clearance documents; that after getting the import documents signed from Shri....
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.... was also placed in the file of Bill of Entry by removing the fake TR-6 challans and the fake challans were destroyed; that the total amount towards duty was received from the importers and shown to have been paid in the bills of entry in respect of Customs duty by showing fictitious DEPB entries was shared by him and Shri Ankush Khullar. He was further confronted with the files along with their list and he stated that DEPB debit entries shown in the files shown to him were fraudulent and that none of the entries shown in the said files had been made by the customs officers and that he along with Shri Ankush Khullar had forged the signatures of the officers deputed for debiting the duty and the files in which duty paid through DEPB was forg....
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....herefore, it has not been surprising that bulk of the amount has been recovered once the fraud has been detected. This is a case where the Appellant signed blank documents and gave to others to operate in his name. When those persons committed fraud the Appellant is making alibis. Custom House Agents License is not on instrument to seek rental income for putting signatures on blank documents. During the relevant time itself the Appellant was not doing any active job of CHA except signing documents. There is no reason to give the Appellant another opportunity to seek such income exposing Revenue to huge risk. 5. In a similar case, where licence of CHA was revoked and was restored by the Tribunal after lapse of few years. Revenue had filed A....
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....strative Action (1995), pp. 601-05, para 13.085; Wade & Forsyth: Administrative Law (2005), p. 366; Mukul Kumar Choudhuri - (2009) 15 SCC 620). What is otherwise within the discretionary domain and sole power of the decision maker to quantify the punishment, once the charge of misconduct stands proved, is exposed to judicial intervention if exercised in a manner which is out of proportion to the fault. Award of punishment, which is grossly in excess of the allegations, cannot claim immunity and remains open for interference under limited scope of judicial review. One of the tests to be applied, while dealing with the question of quantum of punishment, would be: would any reasonable person have imposed such punishment in like circumstances? ....