Bombay High Court rules notice sent via WhatsApp valid

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has held that service of notice about 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.

According to The Times of India, 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 85000 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.