20. Section 19 of the principal enactment is hereby repealed and the following section substituted therefor:
| 19.
| | (1) Any excise officer specially authorized in that behalf by the Director-General in writing may, accompanied by a peace officer, do all or any of the following acts:
| | | (a) enter and search any building or place where he has reason to believe that any books of account, registers, records or other documents which in his opinion will be useful for, or relevant to, any proceedings under this Act may be found, and examine them if found ; |
| (b) seize any such books of account, registers, records or other documents, or place marks of identification thereon or take extracts therefrom or make copies thereof; |
| (c) make a note or an inventory of any other things found in the course of any search under this section which in his opinion will be useful for, or relevant to, any proceedings under this Act. |
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| | (2) Before authorizing any excise officer to exercise the powers under subsection (1), the Director-General shall record the circumstances which necessitate the exercise of these powers by that officer. | | |
| | (3) Where any excise officer authorized by the Director-General under subsection (1) seizes any book of account, register, record or other document from any person, such excise officer shall issue to that person a memorandum specifying the book, register, record or other document he has seized. | | |
| | (4) Any book of account, register, record or other document seized under subsection (1) by any excise officer may be retained in the possession of such excise officer as long as may be necessary for the scrutiny of such book, register, record or other document or for the institution of legal proceedings against the person to whom such book, register, record of other document belongs | | |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts