Mis-declaration and undervaluation findings premised on email...

Mis-declaration and undervaluation findings premised on email printouts and statements recorded under statutory witness-examination provisions were held inadmissible where procedural safeguards for electronic evidence and witness statements were not observed. The adjudicator failed to record compliance with the requirement for certification of electronic records and to document a panchnama for seized printouts, and did not provide or secure opportunity for effective cross-examination after statements were retracted. For these reasons the re-determination of transaction value and attendant penalties founded on those materials could not be sustained, and the impugned valuation and penalty measures were set aside.

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