Central Excise Act, 1944
9D. RELEVANCY OF STATEMENTS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES
(1) A statement made and signed by a person before any Central
Excise Officer of a gazetted rank during the course
of any inquiry or proceeding under this Act shall be relevant, for the purpose
of proving, in any prosecution for an offence under this Act, the truth of the
facts which it contains, -
(a) when the person who made the statement is
dead or cannot be found, or is incapable of giving evidence, or is kept out of
the way by the adverse party, or whose presence cannot be obtained without an
amount of delay or expense which, under the circumstances of the case, the
Court considers unreasonable; or
(b) when the person
who made the statement is examined as a witness in the case before the Court
and the Court is of opinion that, having regard to the circumstances of the
case, the statement should be admitted in evidence in the interests of justice.
(2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to any proceeding under this Act, other
than a proceeding before a Court, as they apply in relation to a proceeding
before a Court.