Proper service and limitation under sales tax law require proof by endorsement; defective acknowledgment cannot bar the appeal.

For limitation under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, the appeal period begins only on proper service of the assessment order. Service by tendering the order under rule 52(1) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Rules, 1959 requires an endorsement by the serving officer as proof of service; an acknowledgment lacking the recipient's name or designation, the assessee's seal, and any such endorsement was insufficient. On that basis, the rejection of the appeal as time-barred was unsustainable, the assessment order was treated as served on 18 November 2004, the delay was condoned, and the appeal was directed to be heard on merits.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order was validly served on the assessee so as to start limitation for filing the appeal under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and whether the rejection of the appeal as time-barred was sustainable.

Analysis: The appeal period under section 31 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 could be invoked only from the date of proper service of the assessment order. Under rule 52(1) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Rules, 1959, service by tendering the order requires an endorsement by the person delivering the notice or order, and such endorsement constitutes proof of service. The acknowledgment on record did not contain the name or designation of the recipient, did not bear the seal of the assessee, and there was no endorsement by the serving officer. In the absence of proper proof of service, the date of service could not be treated as the date on which the department claimed service had been effected.

Conclusion: The order rejecting the appeal as time-barred was unsustainable. The court held that the assessment order must be treated as served on 18 November 2004, the delay in filing the appeal stood condoned, and the appeal was to be heard on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute makes endorsement by the serving officer the proof of service, an acknowledgment lacking such endorsement and other reliable indicia of receipt cannot establish valid service for computing limitation.

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