Kriti Agrawal
On Friday, the Kerala High Court said that summons cannot be sent via WhatsApp because the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) does not provide for it.
Justice V.G. Arun made the remark while deferring a non-bailable arrest warrant issued by the special court for MPs and MLAs against Anoop Jacob, MLA, for failing to appear before the court in response to its summons.
According to his petition, the summons for his appearance, which was allegedly sent through WhatsApp, never arrived to him.
The court pointed out that Section 62 of CrPC dealt with the manner in which summons were served.
If service could not be made as specified in Section 62, the serving officer shall affix a duplicate of the summons to the conspicuous part of the house or homestead where the individual normally resides, according to Section 65 of CrPC.
Following that, the court should conduct whatever investigation it deems necessary before declaring that the summons was properly served or ordering new service in the manner it deems appropriate.
According to Rule 7 of the Criminal Rules of Practice in Kerala, summons given to the accused and witnesses must be signed by the chief ministerial officer of the court and must include the words “by order of the court.”
The court pointed out that these provisions did not permit summons service through WhatsApp, which was not an agreed mode of service.
As a result, the special court should not have given a non-bailable warrant against the petitioner on the basis of his failure to appear after receiving the summons.