Customs Act, 1962 — Chapter XVI: Offences and Prosecutions
139. Presumption as to documents in certain cases
Where any document is produced by a customs officer, or has been seized from the custody or control of a person under this Act, or has been received from any place outside India in the course of investigation of an offence under this Act, and such document is tendered in evidence against that person or any other person tried jointly with him, the court shall: (a) presume, unless the contrary is proved, that the document is genuine, and that the signature and other parts purporting to be in a person’s handwriting are in that person’s handwriting, and, in the case of a document executed/attested, that it was executed/attested by the person by whom it purports to have been so; (b) admit the document in evidence as relevant for proving the truth of its contents, in circumstances of the case the court considers reasonable.
