TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (10) TMI 578
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e of the maintainability of such appeals, at the instance of Committee of Chief Commissioners constituted under section 129D of Customs Act, 1962, has been examined by the Tribunal in Commissioner of Customs (General) v. Kamal Clearing & Forwarding Pvt Ltd disposing off appeal [C/89304/2013] against order [order-in-original no. 89/2013/CAC/CC(G)/PKA/CBS(Admn) dated 25th July 2013] of Commissioner of Customs (General), Mumbai. '3. ......... In the meanwhile, the respondent filed a written submission enclosing order of authority adjudicating upon the offence of misdeclaration of value with intent to claim undue 'drawback', that led to initiation of proceedings for termination of licence against them, declining to impose penalties under section 114 and section 114A of Customs Act, 1962 and intimated acceptance thereof by the competent Committee of Chief Commissioners. This is, perhaps, the most compelling reason for the restriction on appealability of its own order by the licencing authority upon conclusion of proceedings under Customs House Agents' Licencing Regulations, 1994; the entitlement to do so has also been considered on earlier occasions by the Tribunal for dismissal of ap....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... the proposition of appealing against oneself canvassed on behalf of the appellant will be dealt with in due course. 9. Licence holders are professionals who earn their livelihood by rendering services to the import and export community. The discontinuance of a licence, whether temporarily or permanently, is detrimental to the licencee, its employees and their dependents. Hence, akin to conditions of service of officers of Customs, the licensing regulations stipulate a procedure for revocation that is closely parallel to the disciplinary proceedings preceding any detriment to conditions of service. The relationship between a licensed customs house agent and the licensing authority is not much different from that of 'master-servant.' 10. It is axiomatic that in all such proceedings, culminating in termination of such a relationship or is, in any other way, detrimental to the servant, the principles of natural justice require that the power to penalise vests with the author of its being, viz., the appointing authority, that there be a code of conduct which, when violated, brings retribution in the form of a penalty, that the entity who is sought to be proceeded against is served ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ovision itself is not warranted if general provision in Section 129A of Customs Act, 1962 could have been resorted by an aggrieved licensee. On the contrary, legislative intent is abundantly clear in empowering the Regulation making authority to provide for an appellate mechanism distinct from that enacted by the sovereign Legislature in the Customs Act, 1962 and the Regulation-framing authority has, in accord with the wisdom of generations, entitled only the licensee to appeal. As the sovereign Legislature has specifically empowered a separate appellate structure, the intent to deny the replication of the normal appellate remedy to the disciplinary authority against its own order is emphatic. We cannot countenance reading down the general provisions of review and appeal to apply to dropping of disciplinary proceedings against customs house agents in the face of specific and deliberate non-inclusion of such contingency in Section 146 of Customs Act, 1962 and the Regulations framed thereunder.' Nothing further would remain in this appeal except that Learned Authorised Representative submitted that an appeal filed against the said order is pending before the Hon'ble High Court of B....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ified in Regulation 22. Broadly speaking, Regulation 22 requires the issuance of a notice to show cause, an opportunity to file a written statement and the holding of an enquiry in the course of which evidence can be produced. At the conclusion of the enquiry, a report is prepared, a copy of which is to be furnished by the Commissioner to the CHA who has a further opportunity to make a representation. Thereupon, the Commissioner is empowered to pass an order thereon. 13. Regulation 22(8) provides as follows: "(8) Any Customs House Agent aggrieved by any decision or order passed under regulation 20 or sub-regulation (7) of regulation 22, may prefer an appeal under section 129A of the Act to the Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal established under sub-section (1) of Section 129 of the Act." 14. Regulations 20, 21 and 22 contemplate three separate eventualities. The first, which is the most drastic, is the power to revoke the licence of a CHA under Regulation 20 on grounds which are stipulated in sub-regulation (1). The second is a suspension of the licence of an agent where immediate action is considered to be necessary by the Commissioner of Customs and....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....es from invitation of applications and covers qualifications of eligibility, the holding of examinations, award of licences, obligations of CHAs and disciplinary control are governed by the regulations. Section 146(2) contemplates that the Regulations are intended to fulfill the purpose of carrying out of the provisions of the section. That the Regulations may also govern the remedies which are available to a CHA against an order passed in the disciplinary jurisdiction is made abundantly clear by clause (f) of Section 146(2). Section 146(2)(f) clarifies by way of illustration that the Regulations can govern the appeals, if any, against orders of suspension or revocation. If recourse to the general power of an appeal under Section 129A was intended by Parliament to be available in disciplinary matters involving CHAs, there was no necessity of including a provision such as that which is contained in Section 146(2)(f). The provisions of Section 129A have to be harmoniously construed with those of Section 146. There is no question, in our view, of there being any inconsistency between the two statutory provisions. Similarly there is no repugnancy between the provisions of Regulation 20....