Applicability of admissibility rules for investigation...

Applicability of admissibility rules for investigation statements and electronic records in customs valuation is examined: statements recorded under interrogation provisions cannot be relied upon for rejecting declared transaction value where the certificate and procedural safeguards for electronic records were not complied with, and where statements were retracted; absence of a panchnama for email printouts and noncompliance with the certificate requirement for investigative statements rendered reliance on such material improper, making re-determination of value under valuation rules and consequent penalties unsustainable, resulting in setting aside the valuation rejection and penalty imposition.

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