Registered-post service of customs demand notice counts as valid service for limitation when properly dispatched and unrebutted.

For limitation under Section 28 of the Customs Act, a short-levy notice sent by registered post within the prescribed period was treated as duly served when dispatched in the manner contemplated by Section 153. Service on the importer's clearing agent also satisfied the statutory requirement. The importer did not prove the actual date of receipt or rebut the presumption arising from proper posting, and the available material did not show service beyond limitation. The notice was therefore not barred by limitation and was validly served in time.

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Issues: Whether the notice for short levy was served within limitation and, if sent by registered post to the importer and its clearing agent, constituted valid service under the Customs Act.

Analysis: The demand was challenged only on limitation. The last date for issuing the notice expired on 14-11-1993, while the notice was admittedly sent by registered post on 9-11-1993. Section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962 requires service of the notice within the prescribed period, while Section 153 of the Customs Act, 1962 prescribes service by tendering the notice or by sending it by registered post to the person concerned or his agent. The Court held that dispatch by registered post amounts to service for the purposes of Section 28, and that service on the agent also satisfies the statutory requirement. The importer did not establish the actual date of receipt so as to displace the presumption arising from proper posting, and the surrounding material did not show that the notice was received beyond limitation.

Conclusion: The notice was not barred by limitation and was validly served within time.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of limitation under Section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962, a notice sent by registered post in the manner prescribed by Section 153 is treated as duly served unless the contrary is proved.

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