{"id":247682,"date":"2021-04-27T11:00:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T05:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=247682"},"modified":"2021-04-27T10:37:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T05:07:47","slug":"service-of-summons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/04\/27\/service-of-summons\/","title":{"rendered":"Ker HC | Service of summons through Whatsapp; Is it valid in law? HC clarifies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Kerala High Court: <\/strong>V.G. Arun, J., addressed an interesting question regarding the validity of summons served through Whatsapp. The Bench stated, No doubt, the evolutionary changes in the field of communication calls for a more pragmatic approach regarding the mode and manner of service of summons, the statutory provisions do not provide for service of summons through WhatsApp.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The petitioner was aggrieved by the non-bailable warrant issued against the petitioner for non-appearance before the Court. The specific case put forth by the petitioner was that the summons, alleged to had been sent through WhatsApp to his mobile phone, had never reached him, as he had not downloaded the WhatsApp application on his phone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Section 62 of CrPC, dealing with the mode of service of summons, prescribe the following:<br \/>\n<em>\u201c62. Summons how served. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(1) <em>Every summons shall be served by a police officer, or subject to such rules as the State government may make in this behalf, by an officer of the Court issuing it or other public servant.<br \/>\n<\/em>(2) <em>The summons shall, if practicable, be served personally on the person summoned, by delivering or tendering to him one of the duplicates of the summons. <\/em>(3) <em>Every person on whom a summons is so served shall, if so required by the serving officer, sign a receipt therefor on the back of the other duplicate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Going by Section 65 of CrPC, if service could not be effected as provided under Section 2, the serving officer shall affix one of the duplicates of the summons to the conspicuous part of the house or homestead in which the person summoned ordinarily resides.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Bench stated, <strong><em>above provisions do not provide for service of summons through WhatsApp. <\/em><\/strong>No doubt, the revolutionary changes in the field of communication calls for a more pragmatic approach regarding the mode and manner of service of summons. In this regard, the insertion of Section 144 has been made in the Negotiable Instruments Act for the purpose of overcoming the delay in serving summons, which provide for service of summons by speed post or by approved courier service.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0In <em>Indian Banks Assn. v. Union of India, <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/TCG8FWgf\">(2014) 5 SCC 590<\/a>, the Supreme Court had alerted the Magistrates about the <em>need to adopt a pragmatic and realistic approach while issuing process and had directed to issue summons by post as well as by email. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><em>\u201cIn the case at hand, the summon was stated to had been issued through WhatsApp, which is not an accepted mode of service. As such, the court should not have issued non-bailable warrant against the petitioner on the assumption that he had failed to appear after receiving the summons.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In view of the above, the petitioner was permitted to move an application for bail and the magistrate was directed to consider his application deeming the petitioner to have appeared on summons. The non-bailable warrant issued against the petitioner was directed to be kept in abeyance for a period of four weeks.[Anoop Jacob v. State of Kerala, Crl.MC.No.1658 of 2021, decided on 09-04-2021]<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Kamini Sharma, Editorial Assistant has reported this brief.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Appearance before the Court by:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For the Petitioner: Adv. Manoj P. Kunjachan<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For the Respondent: PP T. R. Renjith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kerala High Court: V.G. Arun, J., addressed an interesting question regarding the validity of summons served through Whatsapp. The Bench stated, No <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67011,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[2523,29785,27494,16151],"class_list":["post-247682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-Kerala_High_Court","tag-law","tag-summons","tag-whatsapp"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ker HC | Service of summons through Whatsapp; Is it valid in law? 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Ilanthiraiyan, J., refused to quash the summons issued against Nakkheeran Gopal, Editor, Publisher and Printer of Nakkheeran Publications that unraveled the recent Pollachi serial sex scandal case. The Court, however, modified the summons. The summons was issued against him pursuant to 2 FIRs registered for various offences\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":293658,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/06\/02\/punjab-haryana-high-court-issues-guidelines-for-service-of-summons-through-whatsapp-electronic-media-legal-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":247682,"position":1},"title":"Punjab and Haryana High Court bats for service of summons through WhatsApp and other electronic media; issues detailed guidelines","author":"Ridhi","date":"June 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Punjab and Haryana High Court observed that to avoid any undue disposal of the proceedings pending before the Revenue Courts wherein the intention of a party in possession of the land is to delay the proceedings, issuance of specific guidelines is necessary.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"punjab and haryana high court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":241172,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/12\/24\/ker-hc-mere-issuance-of-summon-under-s-502-of-pmla-2002-to-state-the-truth-or-make-statements-does-not-infringe-the-right-of-anyone-no-cause-of-action-arise-under-art-226\/","url_meta":{"origin":247682,"position":2},"title":"Ker HC | Mere issuance of summon under S. 50(2) of PMLA 2002, to state the truth or make statements does not infringe the right of anyone: No cause of action arise under Art. 226\u00a0","author":"Editor","date":"December 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Kerala High Court: V. G. Arun, J., dismissed the instant petition filed by the petitioner, the Additional Private Secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala, seeking to restrain the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from detaining the petitioner beyond reasonable time and to permit the presence of a legal practitioner during questioning.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":260382,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/01\/21\/photograph-of-summons-sent-through-whatsapp\/","url_meta":{"origin":247682,"position":3},"title":"Photograph of summons sent through WhatsApp as an addition to ordinary process would amount to Judicial Overreach? Del HC decides","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"January 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Delhi High Court: Amit Bansal, J., expressed that Just because the photograph of the summons were sent by the plaintiff to the defendant through WhatsApp cannot amount to overreaching the judicial system or running a parallel system with the judicial system. The instant petition under Article 227 of the Constitution\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":376564,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/02\/24\/electronic-service-of-summons-legally-valid-under-bnss-bom-hc\/","url_meta":{"origin":247682,"position":4},"title":"Summons served electronically is legally valid under BNSS; Bombay HC sets aside cost imposed on Constable","author":"Sunaina","date":"February 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cSection 70(3) BNSS states that all summons served through electronic communication under Sections 64 to 71 BNSS shall be considered as duly served and a copy of such electronic summons shall be attested and kept as a proof of service of summons.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"electronic service of summons legally valid","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/electronic-service-of-summons-legally-valid.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/electronic-service-of-summons-legally-valid.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/electronic-service-of-summons-legally-valid.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/electronic-service-of-summons-legally-valid.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":211720,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2019\/03\/11\/ker-hc-show-cause-notice-issued-under-passport-act-must-be-considered-by-authority-only-after-hearing-the-affected-party\/","url_meta":{"origin":247682,"position":5},"title":"Ker HC | Show-cause notice issued under Passport Act must be considered by Authority only after hearing the affected party","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"March 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Kerala High Court: The Bench of Devan Ramachandran, J. disposed of a petition cautioning Passport Authority of not taking any action against the petitioner without properly notifying him as any action taken against him without his knowledge, might be detrimental to his employment in the USA. Petitioner herein had applied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}