Service at Registered Office required for Section 434 notices; notice to other addresses vitiates the petition.

Section 434 notices must be served at the company's registered office as defined by the statute; service sent to other business or correspondence addresses does not satisfy the prescribed mode of service and vitiates a petition founded on noncompliance with Section 434(1)(a) read with Section 146. The statutory scheme designates the registered office as the sole authorised address for such demands, and reliance on alternative addresses cannot cure the defect where service at the registered office was not effected, requiring dismissal of a petition so founded.

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Issues: (i) Whether issuance of the demand/notice under Section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 to an address with which correspondence is being maintained instead of to the company's registered office is fatal to a company petition for winding up.

Analysis: Section 434(1)(a) prescribes service of the demand on the company by causing it to be delivered at its registered office. Section 146 defines the registered office as the address to which all communications and notices may be addressed. The statutory scheme treats the registered office as the authorised address for service for purposes of demands under Section 434. Allowing notice addressed to other business or correspondence addresses to substitute for service at the registered office would frustrate the statutory purpose of having a single authorised address for receipt of communications and process. Precedents addressing alternative bases for winding up (including proof under Section 434(1)(c) or other clauses) do not negate the mandatory nature of service under Section 434(1)(a) where that provision is relied upon; the absence of service at the registered office vitiates proceedings founded on noncompliance with the service requirement.

Conclusion: The notice under Section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 sent to an address other than the registered office is fatal to the company petition when service at the registered office, as prescribed by Section 434(1)(a) read with Section 146, has not been effected; this vitiates the petition and requires dismissal.

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