Summary: The Bombay High Court decided in favor of Globotrans Prologistix Pvt. Ltd., letting them keep their Customs Broker License after it was unexpectedly taken away by the authorities.
Globotrans Prologistix Pvt. Ltd. and its Managing Director, Naim Shaikh, got a Customs Broker License on July 3, 2019, after Shaikh passed the required tests. However, on February 28, 2020, they received a letter saying they needed to appoint another qualified person in Mumbai, or they might lose their license.
Even though Globotrans followed the rules, the authorities sent a notice on September 3, 2020, saying their license was canceled as of August 26, 2020. This was due to a rule that required a qualified person to be in Mumbai, which the company said was unfair and didn't make sense.
Globotrans's Side:
Their lawyer, Mr. Salvi, said the cancellation was unfair and against basic fairness. The company had followed all the rules, and suddenly changing the license to "temporary" was not right.
Government's Side:
Mr. Sharma, speaking for the government, argued the license was invalid because Globotrans didn't meet the new rule of having a qualified person in Mumbai within two years.
The court found that the rules were misunderstood by the authorities. The license was originally given with no conditions, and changing it to temporary without a good reason was wrong. The court stressed the need for fairness and following basic justice principles.
The court, led by Judges M.S. Sonak and Advait M. Sethna, decided in favor of Globotrans. They said the cancellation of the license was not backed by the rules and was done without giving the company a fair chance to explain.
"Rule is made absolute in terms of prayer clause ‘a’. Writ Petition is allowed."
The court restored Globotrans's license, ruling that the authorities had acted unfairly and without proper justification. This decision highlights the importance of fairness and following proper procedures in regulatory actions.
