Supreme Court Mandates Traditional Notice Service, Bans WhatsApp for Legal Notices

The Supreme Court has ruled against serving legal notices via WhatsApp, enforcing traditional methods under the CrPC and BNSS. Justice Sundresh and Justice Bindal have mandated states and UTs to comply with existing laws, stressing that electronic methods are not substitutes for official service procedures.

The Supreme Court has issued a directive prohibiting the use of WhatsApp or other electronic platforms for serving notices under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

This pivotal ruling was passed by Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal, who instructed all states and union territories to align their police procedures with the legally recognized methods for issuing notices, as prescribed under Section 41A of CrPC, 1973 and Section 35 of BNSS, 2023.

The court emphasized that electronic communication methods, such as WhatsApp, do not meet the legal standards for service and urged compliance within three weeks, following the suggestion of senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, amidst the Satender Kumar Antil case proceedings.

(With inputs from agencies.)