Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd Vs Additional Director General of Foreign Trade (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court held that the Merchandise Exports Incentive Scheme (MEIS) scrip can be cancelled even if the scrips are availed off and the validity period of 24 months has expired. Accordingly, matter is remanded back to enable authority to apply its mind.
Facts- The petitioners are engaged in the activity of designing, manufacturing and selling Commercial Vehicles [trucks and buses] in India for domestic sales, as well as for exporting the said vehicles abroad. The petitioners exported the subject goods, which refer to commercial vehicles consisting of chassis, engine, driver cabin, wheel, fuel tank and obtained MEIS benefits from the year 2015 onwards.
The present writ petitions assails the order passed by the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, confirming the order in original passed by the Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade, partially cancelling the Merchandise Exports Incentive Scheme (MEIS) scrip to the extent of excess amount availed by the licensee in all these writ petitions.
Conclusion- In the case in hand, the petitioners have taken advantage of the scrip/license, which according to the respondents is only 2% of the Free On Board (FOB) value and which according to the petitioner, is 3% of the FOB value. The cancellation of a license/scrip is not a mere cancellation of a document per se, but it cancels the effectiveness of a decision that was taken by the authority. Therefore, even if the validity period of scrips has come to an end, that does not tie the hands of the authority to recall a decision, if such a decision requires reconsideration. Hence, cancellation of a scrip as contemplated under Section 9(4) of the FTDR Act must be given a wider meaning to enable an authority to recall an order or a decision which resulted in the issuance of scrip, when it is ultimately found that such order or decision requires reconsideration.
