D. REDDEPPA REDDI, J.

( 1 ) ). THE petitioner is a manufacturer of Indian Made Foreign Liquor, having its factory at Hyderabad. It has filed this writ petition to declare the action of the respondents, claiming a sum of Rs. 96,480. 00 towards export fee under the impugned proceedings as illegal and arbitrary.

( 2 ) ). The relevant facts that led to the filing of this petition may be stated thus : The Tamilnadu State Marketing Corporation obtained fourteen import permits on 12-3-1992 from the Commissioner of Excise, Tamilnadu, for importing Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from the petitioner. The permits so obtained were valid upto 10-4-1992. On the strength of the said permits, the petitioner applied for 14 export permits to the 1st respondent, namely, Commissioner of Excise, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, by paying the necessary export fee of Rs. 96,480. 00 on 21-3-1992. Thereupon, the 1st respondent granted 14 export permits on 8-4-1992 permitting the petitioner to export the permitted quantity of liquor by 10-4-1992, the date specified in the import permits. It is stated there was sudden strike by the lorry owners during that period. For that reason the petitioner could utilise only four export permits before 10-4-1992 and the remaining ten export permits could not be utilised due to non-availability of lorries. This situation necessitated the petitioner to apply to the Commissioner of Excise, Tamilnadu to revalidate the unutilised ten import permits. Thereupon, the Commissioner of Excise, tamilnadu, by his order dt. 21-4-1992 revalidated the ten permits and extended their validity upto 10-5-1992. Then, the petitioner applied to the 1st respondent on 22-4-1992 to extend the validity period of export permits upto 10-5-1992. The 1st respondent was pleased to revalidate the export permits by endorsement dt. 23-4-1992 and extend the period of validity upto 10-5-1992. On the strength of the said export permits, the petitioner exported the liquor to the State of Tamilnadu. Nearly 3 or 4 months thereafter, the 1st respondent passed orders bearing Cr. No. 7499/92/ex/g3 dt. 7-8-1992, rejecting the application of the petitioner for revalidation of export permits on the ground that there was no provision under law either for revalidation of export permits or for extension of period of their validity. Consequently, he directed the distillery Officer posted in the premises of the petitioner to collect export fee of Rs. 96,480. 00 by proceedings dt. 21-10-1993, 30-10-1993 and 27-12-1993. Hence, this writ petition.

( 3 ) ). The grant of import and export permits of IMFL is governed by the provisions of A. P. Indian Liquor and Foreign Liquor Rules, 1970 (for short the rules ). Rules 4 to 10 of the Rules deal with the procedure for application for import permits and grant of such permits, specifying the period of their validity whereas Rules 11 to 14 deal with the procedure for application for export permits and their issuance. Rule 10 is relevant for our purpose and hence it would be profitable to extract the same. It reads :" 10. (1) The Indian Liquor or Foreign Liquor covered by the import permit shall be brought to its destination within the period of validity and permit holder shall send the intimation of arrival of Indian Liquor or Foreign liquor to the Excise Superintendent of the destination under Rule 7 of these rules and obtain acknowledgement. (2) Where it is not possible for the holder of the permit to import Indian liquor or Foreign Liquor within the validity period specified in the permit for reasons beyond the control of the permit holder, he shall apply to the Authorised Officer for extension of the period of validity of the permit three days in advance of the expiry of the validity in the said permit specifying the reasons necessitating such extension together with the unutilised import permit in original and a Certificate from the Officer of the Exporting Distillery/brewery that no Indian liquor/beer has been despatched fr

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