22/10/2008 (Express Buzz) - A Single Judge had upheld the ban saying that it was a matter of policy of the Central Government and therefore it was beyond the pale of judicial review.

The petitioners in the writ petition, Parisons Foods (P) Ltd and two others, challenged the judgment in a writ appeal, which was dismissed by the Bench consisting of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice A K Basheer.

According to the government, the decision to ban import was taken with a view to protect the interests of the coconut farmers in the state who are dependent on coconut farming for their livelihood.

The decision was based on the recommendations of the chairman of the Coconut Development Board, who had recommended a total prohibition of the import of palm oil and its fractions through the ports in all southern states and the letter from the Chief Minister seeking reversal of the earlier decision to reduce import duty on palm oil.

The Bench held that the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation Act, 1992, which replaced the Imports and Exports (Control) Act of 1947) was to provide for development and regulation of foreign trade by facilitating imports and augmenting exports. The whole scheme of the Act is to regulate imports and exports in public interest.

The Section 5 of the Act enables the Central Government to formulate and amend export import policy from time to time. Section 3(2) of the Act read with Section 5 enables the government to make provision for prohibiting or restricting import of goods of a specified class. In the instant case import of a particular class of goods through certain ports in a particular region is prohibited.

This policy decision is well within the spirit and language of the statutory provisions and the foreign trade policy of the Central Government. No court can compel the government to frame a policy decision or to change the policy to suit the needs of a particular group of persons.