Legal principle

The 90 day limit in Regulation 17(1) of CBLR 2018 is mandatory, and where there is no separate offence report it runs from receipt of the show cause notice (with relied upon documents) or the order in original; asking again for the same documents does not restart it.

Court decision

The writ petition was allowed. The Regulation 17(1) notice was issued beyond the mandatory 90 days, so the Commissioner had no legal authority to revoke the licence. The revocation order dated 12.01.2026 was set aside and the Commissioner was directed to restore the customs broker licence at once and let the broker operate.

Facts

M/s V Unit, a customs broker in Chennai, was accused of knowingly helping an importer classify Betel Nut product (Supari) under CTH 21069030 instead of CTH 08028020, evading customs duty, Social Welfare Surcharge and IGST. Show cause notices under Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962, based on a DRI investigation, were issued on 21.09.2022 and 26.09.2022, with copies marked to the licensing Commissioner. Penalty orders followed on 07.02.2024 and 24.04.2024. In April 2025 the Commissioner asked the import section for the relied upon documents, received them on 25.04.2025 and 16.05.2025, then issued a notice under Regulation 17(1) of CBLR 2018 on 17.07.2025 and revoked the broker licence by order dated 12.01.2026. The broker filed a writ petition.

Key provisions

• Regulation 17(1), Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018 — Procedure for revoking license or imposing penalty