Valid service of assessment orders determines appeal limitation under sales tax rules; service on a brother's wife was insufficient.

Limitation for a statutory appeal under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act runs from service of the assessment order in the prescribed manner. Rule 52(1) requires service first on the dealer or specified representatives, and only if those modes fail may service be effected on an adult family member or by affixture as a last resort. On the facts noted, delivery to the dealer's brother's wife was not accepted as valid service on an adult member of the family, and the Department did not show prior attempts on the dealer or other named recipients. The appeal therefore could not be treated as time-barred.

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Issues: Whether the revised assessment order was served on the assessee in the manner prescribed under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 and the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Rules, 1959 so as to make the statutory appeal time-barred.

Analysis: Section 31 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 makes the limitation period run from the date on which the order is served in the prescribed manner. Rule 52(1) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Rules, 1959 permits service first on the dealer, manager, agent, legal practitioner, or authorised representative, and only if those modes fail, on an adult member of the family. Service by affixture is a last resort after the earlier modes are exhausted. On the facts found, service on the brother's wife was not treated as valid service on an adult member of the family, and the Department also failed to show that service on the dealer or the persons named in clause (a) had first been attempted.

Conclusion: The order was not validly served in the manner required by law, and the appeal could not be rejected as time-barred.

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