- (1.)This is a petition under Art, 32 of the Constitution praying for a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari calling for the records relating to the levy of customs duty and penalty on certain cycles and cycle parts imported by the petitioners, to quash the said order and for a direction to the respondents to restore and refund to the petitioners the customs duty and the penalties realised from them for releasing their goods. The Chief Controller of Imports and Exports, Pondicherry. The Collector of Customs, Pondicherry. The Central Board of Revenue, New Delhi, Chief Commissioner, Pondicherry and the Union of India have been made respondents to the petition.
(2.)From the nature of the order sought and the array of the respondents it would be apparent that the matter involved in this petition is whether the respondents were justified in (a) levying customs duties on the goods imported by the petitioner and (b) imposing a penalty on them for effecting these imports.
(3.)We shall now briefly narrate the facts necessary to understand the points arising for decision. The petitioners who are citizens of India placed an order on August 6, 1954, with certain firms in the United Kingdom for the despatch of cycles and cycle parts to Pondicherry - Which was at that date the principal French establishment in India. According to the law which then obtained in Pondicherry territory, merchants desiring to do business there had to have "a patent" or licence from the authorities for carrying on such business. The petitioners applied for such a "patent" to the authorities on August 14, 1954, and they were granted one on August 18, which was to be effective from August 1, 1954. The order placed with U. K. firms was accepted and the goods covered by the indents were shipped form the U. K. ports on October 11, 1954. The foreign exchange needed for effecting this import could under the French Law have been obtained either from or on the authorization of the Head of the Department of Economic Affairs at Pondicherry or by what has been termed purchase in the open market. In pursuance of these facilities the moneys required were transmitted through bankers who made payments on behalf of the petitioners in the United Kingdom and the goods arrived in Pondicherry on December 4, 1954, the Bill of Entry being presented to the Customs Authorities for clearance on the 17th of that month.