https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=782972 The Tribunal allowed the assessee's appeal and set aside the Commissioner (Appeals)' order confirming clandestine removal of scented supari for July 2014-June 2017. It held that the entire demand was vitiated as it was founded solely on statements of the assessee's Director and Supervisor recorded under s.14 of the Central Excise Act, without complying with s.9D. Since these persons were never examined as witnesses before the adjudicating authority, nor was any opinion formed on admissibility or opportunity granted for cross-examination, their statements had no evidentiary value. In the absence of legally admissible evidence, the allegation of clandestine clearances and consequential demands and penalties could not be sustained. en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 Mon, 08 Dec 2025 08:31:20 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=782972 The Tribunal allowed the assessee's appeal and set aside the Commissioner (Appeals)' order confirming clandestine removal of scented supari for July 2014-June 2017. It held that the entire demand was vitiated as it was founded solely on statements of the assessee's Director and Supervisor recorded under s.14 of the Central Excise Act, without complying with s.9D. Since these persons were never examined as witnesses before the adjudicating authority, nor was any opinion formed on admissibility or opportunity granted for cross-examination, their statements had no evidentiary value. In the absence of legally admissible evidence, the allegation of clandestine clearances and consequential demands and penalties could not be sustained. Case-Laws Central Excise Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=782972