Page 171 - ELT_1st July 2020_Vol 373_Part 1

2020 ] COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, CHENNAI v. FREIGHT FIELD (MADRAS) PVT. LTD. 81
the CESTAT by the impugned order, dated 31-5-2018, whereby the
CESTAT, only on the ground of jurisdiction/maintainability of the
appeal, rejected the said appeal of the Revenue on the ground that
under CHALR, 2004, only the Customs Broker is entitled to prefer
appeal against the order passed by the Licensing Authority, under
Section 129A of the Customs Act and not an appeal by the Revenue,
therefore on that ground alone, the appeal of the Revenue before the
CESTAT was rejected through the impugned order. Assailing the
said order, the present appeal has been preferred by the Revenue.
3. Since the appeal was rejected only on the ground of maintainability
of the appeal filed by the Revenue and not on merits, we are inclined to examine
only the said aspect as to whether the Revenue’s Appeal filed before the CESTAT
is entertainable within the meaning of Section 129A of the Customs Act or not.
4. In this regard, the present appeal was filed by the Revenue only on
the following question of law :
“Whether the CESTAT is right in law in holding that the right to prefer
an appeal under Section 129A of the Customs Act, 1962 against an order
passed under the CHALR, 2004 is available only to a Customs Broker
and not to the Revenue ?”
5. Before we go into the said aspects, first let us take the relevant regu-
lations, namely, CHALR, 2004. The CHALR, 2004 was made by the Central
Board of Excise and Customs in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section
(2) of Section 146 of the Customs Act. For ready reference, Section 146 of the Cus-
toms Act is quoted below :
“146. Licence for Customs Brokers. - (1) No person shall carry on busi-
ness as a customs broker relating to the entry or departure of a conveyance
or the import or export of goods at any customs station unless such person
holds a licence granted in this behalf in accordance with the regulations.
(2) The Board may make regulations for the purpose of carrying out the
provisions of this section and, in particular, such regulations may provide
for -
(a) the authority by which a licence may be granted under this sec-
tion and the period of validity of such licence;
(b) the form of the licence and the fees payable therefor;
(c) the qualifications of persons who may apply for a licence and the
qualifications of persons to be employed by a licensee to assist him in his
work as a customs broker;
(d) the manner of conducting the examination;
(e) the restrictions and conditions (including the furnishing of secu-
rity by the licensee) subject to which a licence may be granted;
(f) the circumstances in which a licence may be suspended or re-
voked; and
(g) the appeals, if any, against an order of suspension or revocation
of a licence and the period within which such appeal may be filed.”
6. The 2004 CHALR., since was framed accordingly pursuant to Section
146 as quoted above, inter alia, provides how and by whom Customs Broker Li-
cence can be issued to the eligible applicants and if there is any violation or de-
fault of the regulation itself, what shall be the corrective or punitive action to be
taken against the erring Customs Broker Licensee, have been dealt with.
EXCISE LAW TIMES  1st July 2020  171