Technical capacity assessment stands where expert report is unrebutted and no cross-examination undermines the furnace determination.

The annual capacity of an induction furnace was determined at 9 MT per crucible on the basis of a Technical Committee inspection report. The assessee participated in the inspection and signed the report, but produced no documentary rebuttal and did not cross-examine the expert. On that material, the report was treated as unshaken, and the capacity determination was not disturbed. The legal point is that an expert-based technical finding will normally stand where the party challenging it fails to rebut the report or test it by cross-examination.

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Issues: Whether the annual capacity of the induction furnace was correctly fixed at 9 MT per crucible on the basis of the Technical Committee report, and whether the impugned determination could be disturbed in the absence of rebuttal evidence or cross-examination of the expert.

Analysis: The matter had been remanded earlier for de novo consideration through technical examination of the furnace. A Technical Committee inspected the factory and reported that only one crucible could run at a time and that the furnace capacity was 9 MT for each crucible. The assessee participated in the inspection and signed the report, but produced no documentary rebuttal and did not cross-examine the expert. In these circumstances, the report remained unshaken and there was no basis to reject the capacity determination made on that material.

Conclusion: The capacity fixation at 9 MT per crucible was upheld and the challenge to the impugned order failed.

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