Service of notice under sales tax rules turns on facts; registered post with refusal endorsement can amount to deemed service.

Service of notice under Rule 68 of the Bombay Sales Tax Rules depends on the facts of each case. A notice properly addressed and sent by registered post, then returned with an endorsement of refusal and followed by pasting at the business premises, may constitute valid deemed service on the recorded facts. The Tribunal should not treat such a question as one of law where the issue turns on the individual evidentiary record. The reference was therefore considered unnecessary, and the dispute was confined to factual determination on service of notice rather than an abstract legal question.

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Issues: Whether compliance with Rule 68 of the Bombay Sales Tax Rules, 1959, in the facts of the case gave rise to a question of law warranting a reference, or whether the issue of service of notice was a factual matter dependent on the record of the case.

Analysis: Rule 68 prescribes the modes of service of orders and notices, and service by registered post carries a deeming effect when the notice is properly addressed and posted. On the facts recorded, the notice was sent to the correct address, returned with an endorsement of refusal, and thereafter pasted at the business premises. The determination whether service was duly effected therefore depended on the factual record in the individual case. No abstract or general rule could be laid down on compliance with the rule, and the Tribunal ought not to have treated the matter as raising a question of law.

Conclusion: No question of law arose for opinion and answer; the reference was unnecessary and was returned, leaving the appeal to be decided on the remaining points in accordance with law.

Final Conclusion: The order confined the controversy to a factual determination on service of notice under the sales tax rules and declined to answer the referred questions as legal issues.

Ratio Decidendi: Whether service under Rule 68 has been effected must be determined on the facts of each case, and a properly addressed notice sent by registered post and returned with an endorsement of refusal constitutes valid deemed service.

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