At the outset, we must note that the adjudicating authorities while coming to their respective conclusions, especially the Commissioner of Customs (Appeal) have extensively referred to online sources such as Wikipedia to support their conclusion. While we expressly acknowledge the utility of these platforms which provide free access to knowledge across the globe, but we must also sound a note of caution against using such sources for legal dispute resolution. We say so for the reason that these sources, despite being a treasure trove of knowledge, are based on a crowd-sourced and user-generated editing model that is not completely dependable in terms of academic veracity and can promote misleading information as has been noted by this Court on previous occasions also.6 The courts and adjudicating authorities should rather make an endeavor to persuade the counsels to place reliance on more reliable and authentic sources.
{Para 14}
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Civil Appeal Nos. 5373 of 2019 and 6715 of 2019
Hewlett Packard India Sales Pvt. Ltd. (Now HP India Sales Pvt. Ltd.)
Vs. Commissioner of Customs (Import), Nhava Sheva
Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, JJ.
Author: Surya Kant, J.
Decided On: 17.01.2023
Citation: MANU/SC/0042/2023
Print Page
