RECORDING OF STATEMENT - Handbook of GST Law & Procedures (CBIC) [October 2024] - GST

6. RECORDING OF STATEMENT 6.1. After the search is completed and the Panchnama has been drawn, it would be expedient for one or two officers led by the senior most officer heading the search team to go through the records on the spot in the context of the intelligence and get explained from the author of such documents and records by recording his statement under summons issued under Section 70 of the CGST Act, 2017. This makes it difficult for the authors to come out with alibis during subsequent investigations or to come out with tutored versions. 6.2. While recording the statement, the following precautions should be taken: (a) Every page of the statement should be signed at the bottom by the deponent and the officer recording the statement. (b) In the last page, there should be an endorsement that the deponent has recorded the statement without coercion or undue influence. (c) All corrections/alterations should also be properly authenticated. 6.3. Other formalities to be observed while recording the statement are: (a) The replies of the person to questions should not be induced by threat, coercion, or fear. The replies should be voluntary. (b) The questions should be precise and clear, preferably in the hand writing of the person recording the statement. (c) If the statement is not recorded in the language which the person understands, then the statement should be interpreted and explained to him in the language which he understands and a certificate to this effect should also be recorded. He shall be at liberty to explain or add to his answers. (d) No police officer/official should be allowed to remain in the room where the statement of the taxpayer is being recorded so that the taxpayer may not take the plea subsequently that the statement was recorded under coercion or pressure. (e) If any person furnishes the name and address of another person, who has evidence to support the statement of the first person, then the authorised officer should get in touch with the coordinating officers so that the other person is also examined before he could be contacted by the party. (f) The person whose statement is being recorded should be confronted with all the relevant and vital documents and he should be asked to sign and explain each such document. (g) All handwritten documents should be got explained by the person in whose hand writing the same are written. Further, he should also be asked to explain as to under whose directions such hand written records were being maintained. (h) In obtaining the thumb impression of an illiterate person, care should be taken to use a good stamp pad to apply ink evenly and to ensure that the impression is clear and shows the ridges prominently so that there is no difficulty in distinguishing the impression by a finger print expert. (i) Copy of the statement should not be given to the deponent on the spot. He may, however, be informed that the copy will be supplied to him if any part of the statement is used against him. 6.4. It should be made clear to the person whose statement is being recorded that refusal to answer any question is an offence under Section 179 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and refusal to sign the statement is an offence punishable under Section 180 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Where a person after giving the statement declines to sign it, the authorized officer should call the witnesses and draw a Refusal to Sign Panchnama and record this fact also in the statement and obtain the signatures of the witnesses on the statement as well as on the Refusal to Sign Panchnama.