INTRODUCTION
In a judgment the court has given the direction that the police shall serve the notice for the appearance of accused under section 41A of The Code of Criminal Procedure which is now section 35 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita as mentioned in the above said section and not through the Whatsapp or any other Electronic Mode. And also made it clear that whatsapp or any other mode cannot be considered as the substitute or alternative mode for the service of the summon . There would be only those mode which are recognized under the CRPC or BNSS
BACKGROUND
The issue that arose with respect to the above judgment was from the case of Satendra kumar Antil vs CBI where the court has upheld the decision of the High Court that the service of summoning through whatsapp is not a contemplated mode of service . The court also stated that the new code gives right for the use of electronic mode for the conduct of the trials , it doesn’t permit for the service of e-notice under section 35 of BNSS.
KEY POINTS
- Emphasis upon the digital communication : The Supreme Court has clarified that the notices served through whatsapp lacks the acknowledgement and traceability required by the law
- Service of notice : the court has stated that the notices under section 41A, 160, and 175 of the CRPC and corresponding BNSS should be sent strictly through the mode as specified in the specified laws
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The Bench comprising the Justice MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal highlighted the concerns and passed the directions to all the states / UT’s must issue standing orders to their respective police machinery to issue notices under section 41A and 35 of the respective acts strictly through the modes of service prescribed in the act any other mode cannot be recognized as the relevant mode of the issue of the notices.while issuing the notices the police machinery must comply with the recent precedent Rakesh Kumar and Vijayanta Arya (DCP),etc and also ordered the additional standing order to all the police department for the service of notices under section 160, 175 of CRPC and section 179 and 195 of the BNSS as prescribed in the above sections . and also directed the High courts for the effective implementation of all the future and past directions issued by the apex court on the monthly basis on all the levels.the registrar general of high courts and chief secretary of all the states to insure due compliance of all the directions within 3 weeks from the January 21 and to mail the compliance affidavits with in 4 weeks from 21st January.
CONCLUSION
This Judgement has reinforced the need for the maintenance of Sanctity of legal procedures while recognizing the limitation of technology in sensitive legal processes . It serves as a caution to law enforcement agency courts to ensure the statutory legal requirements and is not diluted by the informal practices . The court has directed the law enforcement agencies to strictly follow the prescribed procedures to avoid legal complication and ensure transparency.
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WRITTEN BY: PRINCE KUMAR
