Section 136 controls the use of statements recorded under summons. A statement is not automatically evidence; it becomes relevant only in two situations, and in the second the maker must first be examined before the court.
Key points
- Under section 136 of the CGST Act, 2017 a statement made and signed in response to summons under section 70 is relevant in a prosecution only (a) when its maker is dead, cannot be found, is incapable of giving evidence, is kept away by the adverse party or cannot be produced without unreasonable delay or expense; or (b) when its maker is examined as a witness and the court considers it should be admitted in the interest of justice.
The provisions
136Relevancy of statements
Statutory text
A statement made and signed by a person on appearance in response to any summons issued under section 70 during the course of any inquiry or proceedings 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 the opinion that, having regard to the circumstances of the case, the statement should be admitted in evidence in the interest of justice.
*Enforced w.e.f . 1st July, 2017.
Statutory text as published on the CBIC tax information portal, as on 03.10.2026; the numbered notes record each amendment. Official source
Common questions
- Is a statement recorded under GST summons evidence?
- Only in the circumstances in section 136 of the CGST Act — where the maker is unavailable, or is examined as a witness and the court admits it in the interest of justice.
Commentary and case notes checked against the judgments and CBIC sources on 04.10.2026.
What it means
The section mirrors section 9D of the Central Excise Act and section 138B of the Customs Act. High Courts and the Tribunal have applied the same discipline in adjudication: a statement relied on in a show cause notice should be tested by examining its maker if the noticee asks for cross-examination.