Insta
Now Notices And Summons Via Email, WhatsApp As Supreme Court Gives In Principle Approval
Swarajya Staff
Jul 11, 2020, 11:01 AM | Updated 11:01 AM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
In a first-of-its-kind move, the Supreme Court on Friday (11 July) gave in-principle approval for serving of notices and summons to people through instant messaging services like WhatsApp and Telegram, in addition to emails, reports Times of India.
The decision to provide legal backing to the process was taken by a bench comprising of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Reddy and AS Bopanna and comes as a major boost for such messaging platforms.
The bench opined that notices and summons are integral to the interaction between the judiciary, and the citizens and entities of India and extending the services via digital channels would only strengthen the process.
The bench further added that the innovation was a need, given physical delivery of notices and summons had become an onerous task in the light of the nationwide lockdown which had been imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that the suggestion for giving legal backing to the delivery of notices and summons via emails had come from Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
Venugopal had however expressed reservations over the use of WhatsApp for the same, given the platform claims end-to-end encryption of the messages which would make it difficult to prove the legitimacy of the summons and notices sent.
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.