R. K. Logistics v. Commissioner Of Customs

What happened

On 13 November 2014 the proprietor of R. K. Logistics applied for a customs broker licence, stating an MBA and a graduation from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. He filed a notarised affidavit in place of the degree, cleared the written and oral examinations and was granted the licence on 2 November 2016. After a complaint of 8 August 2019, he was directed to furnish an attested copy of his graduation certificate, and the university reported on 5 October 2019 that the details did not match its records. The licence was suspended on 11 October 2019, a show-cause notice of 27 December 2019 proposed revocation, forfeiture and penalty, and the Inquiry Officer reported on 27 March 2020 that genuineness was not proved. By an order of 1 July 2020 the licence was revoked, the security of ₹5,00,000 was forfeited and a penalty of ₹50,000 was imposed under regulation 18(1) of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018. The Tribunal upheld it by an order of 23 December 2024 and the broker appealed under section 130.

Questions before the court

• Did the forged graduation degree justify revocation of the licence and forfeiture of the security?
• Could a penalty under regulation 18 be imposed after the licence was revoked?

Why the court ruled this way

The Court noted that under regulation 5(h) an applicant must hold a graduation degree from a recognised university and a professional qualification, that the degree supplied on direction was found by verification not to be issued by the university, and that the order of 1 July 2020 and the Tribunal's order record a concurrent finding of fact that it was forged (paragraph 9). The appeal lay only on substantial questions of law, the broker's plea about a BBA degree of 2010 had not been raised before the Inquiry Officer, in the revocation proceedings or before the Tribunal, and the request to cross-examine the university's officials had not been pressed either, and cross-examination is not an unfettered right (paragraphs 9 and 10). Regulation 14 allows revocation and forfeiture for failure to comply with the Regulations (paragraph 11), and regulation 18(3) provides that a penalty under regulation 18 is without prejudice to other action, so the penalty is not contingent upon revocation (paragraph 12).

Controlling point

Submission of a forged graduation degree to obtain a customs broker licence justifies revocation and forfeiture of the security, and the penalty under regulation 18 is not contingent on revocation.

Order and next steps

No substantial question of law arose and the appeal was dismissed. The Tribunal's order of 23 December 2024 confirming the order of 1 July 2020 was upheld, and the pending application was disposed of.

Practical implications

A person who applies for a customs broker licence must prove the educational qualifications required by regulation 5(h) and should produce genuine certificates when asked, because a finding of forgery will be treated as a finding of fact in later appeals. Objections such as cross-examination or another degree should be raised at the inquiry stage, not first in the High Court.

Limits of this ruling

• The appeal was confined to questions of law, and the finding that the degree was forged was treated as a concurrent finding of fact that the Court did not reopen.