SC: Police can’t serve notice or summon through WhatsApp or other electronic means

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court has ruled WhatsApp or other electronic means cannot be used by police and other investigating agencies to serve notice to an accused to appear before it, Supreme Court has said while rejecting the plea of Haryana govt to allow police to serve notice through electronic means as it would adversely affect the liberty of the person. Pressing for electronic means of serving summons, the state submitted that the new law of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita allowed use of electronic means for court proceedings for issuance, service and execution of summons and warrant and that should be allowed to police also. But a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N K Singh said that summons issued by a court is a judicial act, whereas a notice issued by the investigating agency is an executive act and the procedure prescribed for a judicial act cannot be read into the procedure prescribed for an executive act. The court clarified that the issue of liberty is involved in the case of police summon as the person can be arrested for non-compliance of summon and in such cases it is appropriate that such a notice be served in person on
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