Notice sent via WhatsApp valid, rules Bombay high court
MUMBAI, June 16: The Bombay high court has held that service of notice about a litigation through WhatsApp is valid. Justice Gautam Patel observed that a credit card defaulter who was evading the bank had not only received the notice in a PDF file but also opened it and read its contents.
The HC was hearing an application filed by SBI Cards and Payment Services to execute an arbitration award against a Nalasopara resident, Rohidas Jadhav, relating to payment of credit card dues of Rs 1.17 lakh.
"(Jadhav) was served by an authorised officer by sending a PDF and message to his mobile number as a WhatsApp message." Justice Patel said. "For the purposes of service of notice I will accept this. I do so because the icon indicators clearly show that not only was the message and attachment delivered but that both were opened."
Advocate Murlidhar Kale, counsel for the company, said they had been unable to serve the notice on Jadhav as he had changed his residence. His phone number was available with them, which the HC took on record. The bank representative sent Jadhav a message informing him about the next date of hearing along with a lawyer's notice in a PDF. The blue ticks on the message revealed that Jadhav had received the message and read it.
Jadhav had run up credit card dues of Rs 85,000 in 2010. In 2011, following arbitration proceedings, he was ordered to pay back the amount along with 8 per cent interest. When he failed to make the payment, the bank filed an execution application in 2015 to enforce the award. The amount at the time stood at Rs 1.17 lakh. Over the past two years, the bank had been trying to serve the notice about the litigation on Jadhav but without success as he kept shifting his rental accommodation.
Rules state that a notice is served in person or through registered post. Following the enactment of the Information Technology Act, which recognises electronic communication as evidence, courts have allowed parties in a litigation to serve notice through email, in addition to traditional methods. Earlier this year, a Delhi metropolitan magistrate had allowed a woman to serve summons in a domestic violence case on her estranged husband in Australia via WhatsApp. The court had said that the "double tick" on WhatsApp showed that the summons have been delivered.
Courtesy: The Times Of India
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Dalit girl gang-raped in moving car in Mathura, accused on run
Mathura (PTI): A Dalit girl was allegedly gang-raped by three persons here in a moving car, after which she was thrown out on the side of a road, police said on Friday.
An FIR has been lodged against the accused following a complaint from the minor's father and efforts are on to arrest the trio, they added.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Trigun Bisen said the girl, who is around 13-year-old, has been sent to the district women's hospital for a medical examination, after which her statement will be recorded before the magistrate.
Citing the complaint lodged by the girl's father, the SP said the incident took place on Thursday when the the minor went to a shop in her neighbourhood to buy items for breakfast.
At the shop, a man named Neeraj allegedly gave her a bottle of water laced with sedatives. As soon as she drank the water, she started feeling dizzy and fainted, the complaint said.
Neeraj, his friend Shailendra and another associate then allegedly took her away in a car. They raped the girl in the moving car while she was in a semi-conscious state and threw her out under the flyover of Barsana Road before fleeing.
On regaining consciousness, the girl reached home and informed her parents about the incident, the complaint added.
According to the SP, while narrating her ordeal, the condition of the girl deteriorated and the family immediately took her to a doctor, who also confirmed that she was raped. Following this, her parents filed a complaint at the Chhata police station.
Bisen said that a case has been registered and the matter is being probed, adding that efforts are on to arrest the three accused persons.
