Evidence

(1) In any proceedings taken or instituted under this Act, any of the following averments shall be accepted by the court without proof of any such fact, unless the defendant in such proceedings proves to the contrary– (a) that any person is a price control officer; (b) that goods are of a class or description controlled under some specified provision of the regulations; (c) that the maximum or minimum permitted price of goods are as stated in the information or complaint; (d) that a certain quantity of certain goods are the subject of sale by “wholesale” or by “retail”, as the case may be; or 8 (e) that certain goods are from a particular shipment or shipments, or that they were imported on or before a stated date. (2) The burden of proving that a case comes within any exception described in the regulations shall be on the person alleging it. (3) The burden of proving that the price at which goods were sold or bought, as the case may be, was not in contravention of the price as regulated or sanctioned by the regulations, shall be on the person alleging it. (4) When any goods are found on the business premises of any vendor, the onus of proving that such goods are not on such premises for the purpose of sale shall be on the vendor. (5) A cost sheet showing the price of imported goods, the date of importation, the importer, and all other matters as contained in a cost sheet under the Third Schedule to the regulations shall be admissible in evidence without proof of the signature of the Controller of Supplies or a price control officer, and shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of all matters contained therein. (6) A certificate signed by the Controller of Supplies certifying that goods are of a class or description controlled under some specific provision of the regulations, and certifying the maximum permitted price thereof, shall be prima facie evidence in all courts of justice and for all purposes of the facts certified therein, without the necessity of adducing proof of the signature appearing on the certificate, and the burden of proving that the price at which goods were sold or bought, as the case may be, was not in excess of the price as regulated or sanctioned by the regulations, shall be on the person alleging it. (7) Any fact of which oral evidence may be given in any proceeding under the regulations may be admitted for the purpose of those proceedings by or on behalf of the prosecution 9 or defendant, and the admission by any party of any such fact under this section shall as against that party be conclusive evidence in those proceedings of the fact admitted.