Proper service in penalty proceedings requires reasonable steps at known alternative addresses before proceeding ex parte.

Where penalty proceedings depend on proper service of notice, an ex parte order is vulnerable if the record shows an alternative address and the authority does not take reasonable steps to effect service there as well. The analysis states that a postal endorsement of "closed" does not, by itself, justify proceeding ex parte where effective service remains doubtful. It also notes that if deemed service is to be relied on because the notice was allegedly manipulated, that basis must be recorded in the order itself; fresh reasons cannot later be added to sustain the ex parte action. The result discussed is that the penalty order was set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration.

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Issues: Whether the ex parte penalty proceedings were vitiated for want of proper service of statutory notice and whether deemed service could be inferred on the facts.

Analysis: The notice said to have been issued to the petitioner was returned with the postal endorsement "closed", but the record disclosed more than one address for the petitioner. In view of the penal consequences flowing from the proceedings, the authority was expected to make a greater effort to ensure service by using the alternative address also. If the department believed that the petitioner had manipulated the return of notice, that basis ought to have been recorded in the order itself and treated as deemed service then and there. Fresh reasons could not be introduced later to sustain the ex parte order.

Conclusion: The ex parte penalty order was unsustainable for want of proper service and was set aside, with the matter remanded to the authority for fresh consideration after appearance of the petitioner.

Final Conclusion: The petitioner obtained relief on the service issue, and the penalty proceedings were reopened for reconsideration by the authority.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a penal proceeding depends on service of notice and the record shows an alternative address, the authority must take reasonable steps to ensure effective service before proceeding ex parte, and cannot later supplement the order with new reasons to justify deemed service.

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