Legal principle

The CBLR examination may include any proportion of questions from the allied Acts listed in Regulation 6(7), and a court will not interfere with the paper or answer key unless a patent, obvious error is shown.

Court decision

The Delhi High Court dismissed the petition. The paper was within the syllabus in Regulation 6(7) of the CBLR 2018, which sets no ratio between major and allied Acts. No glaring error in the answer key was shown. A hard paper or a low pass rate is no ground to issue licences or to relax the attempts limit.

Facts

Rajiv Kumar Rishi and other candidates took the Customs Brokers Licensing Examination held on 18.03.2025 under Regulation 6 of the CBLR 2018. They complained that 65 of the 150 questions came from Allied Acts, breaking a 20 year pattern of mostly asking about the Customs Act, IGST, Excise and Finance Acts. They also said some questions were ambiguous or out of syllabus, such as the 18 digit PCIN, eight digit tariff codes for mozzarella cheese, tamarind kernel powder and sandalwood chips, the number of SCOMET categories, and non-bailable offences under Section 135. They filed a writ in the Delhi High Court asking for licences or relaxation of the six attempts limit.

Key provisions

• Regulation 6(7), Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018 — Examination of the applicant