Voluntary customs statements and corroborative evidence can sustain conviction; accomplice testimony may support otherwise reliable proof.

Voluntary statements recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act are admissible when shown to have been made without threat, inducement or coercion, and they may be relied upon with corroborative evidence. A co-accused who has pleaded guilty and later testifies cannot, by itself, constitute substantive evidence in isolation, but the testimony may be considered after the remaining evidence is found reliable and may provide corroboration. On the facts described, the customs statements, the implicating statement and the surrounding evidence formed a consistent chain supporting the prosecution case, and the conviction and sentence were upheld.

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Issues: Whether the conviction for offences under the Customs Act and the Gold Control Act was sustainable on the basis of statements recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962, together with the evidence of a co-accused turned approver and other corroborative material.

Analysis: Statements recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 are admissible in evidence when they are proved to have been voluntarily made and are not shown to be vitiated by threat, inducement, or coercion. Such statements may legitimately be relied upon along with other evidence. The testimony of a co-accused who has pleaded guilty and later deposed as a witness cannot by itself be treated as substantive evidence in isolation, but it can be taken into account after the remaining evidence is found satisfactory and may furnish corroboration. On the record, the customs statements of the accused persons, the statement implicating the appellant, and the evidence connecting the appellant with the operation formed a consistent chain supporting the prosecution case.

Conclusion: The conviction and sentence were upheld and the challenge to the evidentiary basis of the prosecution failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Voluntary statements recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 are admissible and may be relied upon with corroborative evidence, while accomplice evidence may support a concluded finding if the remaining evidence is otherwise reliable.

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