Primary records must be examined before denying deemed credit and imposing demand, penalty, and interest.

Denial of deemed credit could not be sustained without examining the original RT-12 returns and the forwarding letters said to disclose the non-payment entries. Because the primary records were not scrutinised by the adjudicating authority, and were also unavailable before the Tribunal, the factual basis for the allegation of false declaration and the consequential demand, penalty and interest remained unverified. The matter was therefore remanded for de novo adjudication, with the disputed records to be examined first and the connected liabilities reconsidered on that basis.

---

---

Issues: Whether the denial of deemed credit and the consequential demand, penalty and interest could be sustained without examining the RT-12 returns and forwarding letters said to disclose the non-payment entries, and whether the matter required remand for fresh adjudication.

Analysis: The appeal turned on the appellant's claim that the non-payment of duty against certain TR-6 challans had been disclosed in the forwarding letters accompanying the RT-12 returns, while the Revenue relied on the RT-12 entries as proof of a false declaration of payment. The original adjudicating authority had not examined the original RT-12 returns and the forwarding letters, and those documents were not available before the Tribunal despite directions to produce them. In the absence of examination of these primary records, the Tribunal found it necessary to have the disputed documents scrutinized to determine the factual basis for the allegation of intent and the resultant denial of deemed credit and penalty.

Conclusion: The matter was remanded for de novo adjudication on the main issue, with the connected demand, penalty and ancillary issues to be reconsidered after examining the relevant records.

---