Penalty under s.114AA set aside where s.108 statements invalid without s.138B safeguards and no culpability found

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....CESTAT dismissed the three Revenue appeals and upheld the Comm'r(A)'s order setting aside imposition of penalty under s.114AA of the Customs Act against the respondent. The Tribunal held statements recorded under s.108 could not be relied upon where mandatory procedural safeguards of s.138B were not complied with, echoing the principle that such statements must be recorded before the adjudicating authority to obviate coercion. The Comm'r(A) had found no evidence linking the respondent to registration errors, no knowledge of the officer's mistake, and that the duty credit scrips were duly issued and reflected on the EDI system; on these findings the penalty order was unsustainable.....