- (1.) This writ petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution is by a former Portuguese citizen, who became a citizen of India after the acquisition of the Portuguese territories in India by the Government of India on December 20, 1961. It may be mentioned that the Portuguese territories were acquired by India after military action. The petitioner was resident in Daman and had obtained 23 licences for import of various goods between October 9 and December 4, 1961. The goods to be imported under these licences were to the value of over one million pounds. The licences were valid for a period of 180 days from the date of issue and could be renewed for a further period. The case for the petitioner is that he had placed firm orders in respect of the goods covered by the said licences with his foreign suppliers prior to December 20, 1961 for the full value of the licences and had made to the said foreign suppliers advance payments either in full or in part of the price of the goods. The total amount said to have been paid by the petitioner was over 3,88,000 and he had to pay a further sum of over 7,62,000 as the balance. The goods covered by these licences had to be shipped in the first quarter of 1962. The petitioner's case further is that as the goods did not arrive within the period of 180 days he had applied on various dates for extension of the licences; but the same was refused. The petitioner then tried to persuade the foreign suppliers to cancel the orders and remit back the money paid to them, but they refused to do so. Consequently, he applied to the Government of India that he might be permitted to import the goods against the said licences, but this was also refused. He therefore filed the present petition in May 1963, and contends that the refusal to permit him to import goods on the basis of the said licences violated his fundamental right guaranteed under Art. 19(1) (f) and (g) of the Constitution. He also contends that the Government of India allowed import of goods by other merchants who were similarly situate and this amounted to discrimination against him which was violative of Art. 14 of the Constitution. He further contends that the Government of India was bound to allow him to make the imports in question inasmuch as the Government of India had recognised his right to import under the licences granted to him before December 20, 1961. In this connection reliance is placed on the judgment of this Court in State of Rajasthan v. Shyamlal, AIR 1964 SC 1495.
(2.) The petition has been opposed on behalf of the Government of India. It is urged that in view of the emergency, Art. 19 has been suspended by virtue of the provisions of Art. 358 of the Constitution and therefore the petitioner cannot rely on that Article. Secondly, it is urged that the petitioner has failed by any reliable evidence to make out a case of discrimination against him and that imports had been permitted to other persons who were not similarly circumstanced as the petitioner. It is also urged that licences could only be granted by the Governor of Daman at the relevant time and the petitioner has failed to prove that his licences were in fact issued by the Governor of Daman, and therefore the licences are not valid. It is further urged that even if the licences were held to be valid, they were for a period of 180 days. As the imports did not take place within that period, the petitioner is not entitled to make any imports after the period were over. The Government of India was not bound to extend the licences, and inasmuch as the licences were not extended the petitioner has no right to the issue of any writ by this Court compelling the Government of India to extend the licences and allow the petitioner to make imports in accordance with them. Lastly, it is urged that the Portuguese territories in India were acquired by conquest; as such the new sovereign was not bound as between itself and the subjects of the former Portuguese territories to honour commitments of the former Portuguese Government, and that it was open to the new sovereign either to recognise the commitments of the former Portguese Government or not to do so. In the present case, the new sovereign, namely, the Government of India, refused to recognise commitments of the former Portuguese Government of the nature made by the issue of licences to the petitioner and therefore the petitioner is not entitled to any relief from this Court.
(3.) It is unnecessary to consider all the arguments except the one under Art. 14 raised on behalf of the petitioner as we have come to the conclusion that the petitioner is not entitled to any relief in view of the last point urged on behalf of the Government of India. We shall assume for purposes of the present petition that the petitioner did hold valid licences before December 20, 1961 from the former Portuguese Government for import of goods worth over a million pounds. The position of law, however, in cases of acquisition of territories by conquest, as in the present case, is undisputed. In such a case the residents of the territories did not carry with them the rights which they possessed as subjects of the ex-sovereign, and that as subjects of the new sovereign they had only such rights as are granted or recognised by him, so far as the relations between the subjects and the sovereign are concerned. In the present case we are not concerned with relations between subject and subject of the former sovereign and their rights inter se when the new sovereign takes over. We are concerned only with relations between subjects of the former sovereign and the new sovereign after the new sovereign has taken over and what we say herein must be confined to that position alone.;