Valid service of assessment notice may be inferred from conduct showing the recipient was authorised to accept notices.

Proper service of an assessment notice under rule 68 of the Bombay Sales Tax Rules, 1959 may be established where the notice is delivered to a person shown by surrounding conduct to be authorised to receive it. Here, the notice was served at the business premises on the same person who had earlier received notices for the assessees, and the assessees had acted on those earlier notices without objection. That conduct supported the inference of authority, so service was held valid as service on a duly authorised agent. Authorities relied on by the assessees were distinguished on their facts and did not defeat that inference.

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Issues: Whether there was proper compliance with rule 68 of the Bombay Sales Tax Rules, 1959 in serving the assessment notice on the assessees.

Analysis: Rule 68 permits service of notices by delivery to the addressee, to an authorised agent, to a person regularly employed in connection with the business, or to an adult male member of the family. The notice in question was served at the business premises on the same person who had earlier received notices for the assessees, and the assessees had acted upon those earlier notices without objecting to service. On those facts, the surrounding conduct furnished sufficient material to infer that the recipient was duly authorised to receive notices on behalf of the assessees. The decisions relied on by the assessees were distinguished on their facts and did not displace that inference.

Conclusion: There was proper compliance with rule 68, and the service on the recipient was valid as service on a duly authorised agent.

Ratio Decidendi: Valid service of a statutory notice may be inferred from surrounding conduct showing that the recipient was duly authorised to receive notices on behalf of the dealer.

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