Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992: s.20 – Import of goods by Obron in August, 1997 – After coming into force of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, import of stated goods was no way prohibited under that Act – Action taken against the respondents founded on order dated 14.11.1986 passed by the Competent Authority in exercise of powers conferred by Clause 8(1) of the Imports (Control) Order, 1986 qua LD Textile – On appeal, held: The provision of the Act in no manner save the quasi-judicial order – Moreso, when it had the effect of continuing prohibition regarding the import of goods otherwise made free and could be imported under the 1992 Act – Any other interpretation would result in validating the quasi judicial order issued in exercise of powers derived from the Statutory Order which itself stands repealed alongwith the repealed Act – In other words, the quasi judicial order dated 14.11.1986 is repugnant to the legislative intent behind the 1992 Act, whereby, import in respect of the stated goods was made free and an open regime – A fortiori, no action against the respondents in relation to import of stated goods after coming into force of the 1992 Act with effect from 17.08.1992, in reference to the order dated 14.11.1986 could be resorted to in law – High Court dealt with this contention exhaustively and justly concluded that the show cause notice issued against the respondents on the basis of order passed by the Competent Authority dated 14.11.1986 cannot stand the test of judicial scrutiny – No interference is required – For, a quasi judicial order passed in exercise of powers under the Statutory Order which stands repealed along with the repealed Act, is not saved especially when it will be per se repugnant to 1992 Act and defeat the spirit of opening of the import regime for the stated goods.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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