Assessee cannot insist upon cross-examination of informers whose statement may not be relied upon

CA Bimal Jain

Assessee cannot insist upon cross-examination of all the informers, especially the ones whose statement may not be relied upon by the Department for maintaining the demand

Facts:

Kurele Pan Products Pvt. Ltd. (“the Petitioner”) filed a writ petition to insist upon the cross-examination of all the 15 informants, who had supplied information to the Department, leading to issuance of SCN.

Held:

The Hon’ble High Court of Allahabad opined that if the Department has recorded statement of 15 informants before issuance of SCN, it is not necessary that the evidence of all the 15 witnesses may be relied upon for the purpose of maintaining the demand. Further, it is always open to the Department to rely upon the evidence of such number of informers, as may be necessary in the facts of the case. Therefore, the Petitioner cannot insist upon cross-examination of all the informers, especially the ones whose statement may not be relied upon by the Department for maintaining the demand.

The Hon’ble High Court further held that as and when Final Orders are passed and the assessee feels that there has been violation of principles of natural justice or settled principles of law, he can always question the Order by filing the appeal before the Appellant Authority.

(Author can be reached at Email: bimaljain@hotmail.com)

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