Statements recorded under summons were held inadmissible because...

Statements recorded under summons were held inadmissible because the mandatory procedure for examining the maker as a witness and determining admissibility under statutory safeguards was not followed; therefore those statements could not support re-determination of transaction value, and associated penalties were unsustainable. Email and computer printouts were also inadmissible for want of the required evidentiary certificate and formalities for computer output; absent a panchnama and the statutory certificate, the printouts could not establish undervaluation. Consequently the adjudication rejecting declared value and imposing penalties was set aside.

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