In a recent judgment, the Bombay High Court held that the notice document file sent over WhatsApp messaging app in the form of a PDF file to a respondent who has been escaping from accepting physical copies of the communication is valid in law.
The court observed that the notice document file sent in the form of a PDF file was not only delivered, but the attachment was opened as well.
Hearing the case, Justice Gautam S Patel wrote that, "The Respondent to the Execution Application has been evading service of this Notice under Order XXI Rule 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908. He was served by an authorised officer of the Claimant, Ms. Fatema Kalyanwala by sending a PDF and message to his mobile number as a WhatsApp message. For the purposes of service of Notice under Order XXI Rule 22, I will accept this. I do so because the icon indicators clearly show that not only was the message and its attachment delivered to the Respondent’s number but that both were opened."
The claimant in the case, SBI Card had filed the execution application against Rohit Jadhav who was evading all their calls.
Justice Patel further asked SBI Card to share address details of Jadhav with the Court so that a warrant, if necessary can be issued against him.
