S. Banerjee, J. - (1.) The Court : The writ petitioners have challenged an order of March 12, 2008 passed by the Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade under Rule 7(1)(k) of the Foreign Trade (Regulation) Rules, 1993.
(2.) Though the petitioners rely on an earlier notice of July 6, 2004 as the basis for the order of March 12, 2008, it appears from the order itself that the immediate notice on which the order is based was issued on January 2, 2006. By the notice of January 2, 2006 a demand was raised on the petitioner company to pay customs duty together with 15 per cent interest on the excess quantum of goods exported of the value of Rs. 25,58,830/ -.
(3.) The order recorded that upon receipt of the notice, the petitioner company replied on January 17, 2006 and reasoned that it had fulfilled the export obligation and sought time to import or export goods on the overall value of the licence without any quantitative restriction being imposed. It is the petitioners' case that the licence was based on paragraph 110 of the handbook. Paragraph 110 would show that a value based advance licence may be issued where the individual quantities are irrelevant. A value based advance licence is distinct from the quantity based advance licence provided for at paragraph 111 of the handbook.;