Mumbai: In a first, the Bombay High Court recently allowed a party to serve a legal notice on the adversary, through the free messaging application WhatsApp.
The court allowed the same after noting that the notice sent as a PDF document had been received and read by the adversary. Having examined the WhatsApp message, which was styled as a notice, Justice Gautam Patel said, “I will accept this notice because the icon indicators clearly show that not only was the message and its attachment deliver-ed to the respondent’s number, but that both were opened by him.”
Justice Patel accepted the notice sent by the State Bank of India Cards and Payments Services Pvt Ltd to a person, who, it claimed, was evading service of the notice. The court has now sought the residential address of Nalasopara-based Rohitdas Jadhav, who has been evading service of the notice.
The firm, in its execution application, claimed that its authorised officer had sent a PDF document along with a message, informing him about filing of the application and also the next date of hearing, on Jadhav’s WhatsApp number.“This firm shall furnish the details of the respondent’s residence in Nalasopara, so that a warrant, if necessary, can be issued. In the meantime, the notice sent through WhatsApp is made absolute,” Justice Patel added.