86. Service of notice.

(1) Notice under the Act, or under these rules,  shall be served by one of the following methods:-

     (a) by delivery by hand or through courier, of a copy of the notice to the addressee or to any other agent ,duly authorised in this behalf by him or to a person , regularly employed by him in connection with the business in respect of which he is registered as a person or to any adult male member of his family residing with the person; or

     (b) by registered post ;

Provided that if upon an attempt having been made to serve any such notice by either of the above said methods , the authority concerned has reasonable grounds to believe that the addressee is evading the service of notice or that, for any other reason , which in the opinion of such authority is sufficient that notice cannot be served by any of the above mentioned methods, the said authority shall , after recording the reasons there for , cause the notice to be served by affixing a copy thereof ;-

      (a) if the addressee is a person, on some conspicuous part of the person’s office or the building in which the person’s office is located or upon some conspicuous part of the place of the person’s business last intimated to the said authority by the person or of the place where the person is known to have last carried on business; or

      (b) if the addressee is not a person, on some conspicuous part of his residence or office or the building in which his residence or office is located and such service shall be deemed to be as effectual as if  ,it has been made on the addressee personally:

Provided further that, where the officer at whose instance the notice is to be served , is on enquiry satisfied ,that the said office, building, place or residence does not exist  or is not traceable, such officer,  may by an order in writing , dispense with the requirement of service of the notice under the  preceding proviso.

(c) through e-mail

(2) When the officer serving a notice delivers or tenders a copy of the notice to the person or addressee personally or to his agent or to any of the persons referred to in clause (a) of sub-rule (1), he shall require the signature of the person to whom the copy is so delivered or tendered in token of an acknowledgement of service endorsed on the original notice. When the notice is served by affixing a copy thereof in accordance with the first proviso to sub-rule (1), the officer serving it , shall return the same in original to the authority , which issued the notice with a report endorsed thereon or annexed thereto, stating that he so affixed the copy, the circumstances under which he did so and the name and address of the person, if any, by whom the addressee’s office or residence or the building in which his office or residence is located or his place of business was identified and in whose presence the copy was affixed. The said officer shall also obtain the signature or thumb-impression of the person. identifying the addressee’s residence or office or building or place of business on his report.

(3) When service is made by post, the service, shall be deemed to be affected by properly addressing or preparing the notice and posting it by registered post with acknowledgement due, and unless, the contrary is proved, the service shall be deemed to have been affected at the time at which the notice would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

(4) When service is made through e-mail at the e-mail address, provided by the department, it shall be deemed to be a valid service.