In a strange but impactful move, a Delhi court has permitted a woman petitioner to serve the summons in a Domestic Violence Case to her separated husband who is in Australia through WhatsApp, text message and e-mail considering the time consumed in ordinary service. Earlier two attempts to serve the summons on her husband in the past had failed.

 Metropolitan Magistrate (Mahila Court) Surbhi Sharma Vats permitted the counsel Debopriyo Pal and Kunal Kumar to serve a summons on the separated husband through Whatsup messages and e-mail.

Counsel Pal suggested to the magistrate that the summons is served via WhatsApp etc. since service could not be affected for the past eight months and the summons was being returned as the man was not living at the last known address in Delhi.

While agreeing to his request, the court directed the petitioner woman to file an affidavit stating that the phone numbers on which the summons would be sent via WhatsApp and text message and also the e-mail id belong to her husband.

In this case, the man had left for Australia in the year 2015 for pursuing further studies while the petitioner, a homemaker, and their minor daughter, who was two years old then, were left in India. The petitioner continued to stay in their rented housing in Noida but soon joined her parents in Delhi after the husband denied to pay rent for the house.

 Worth mentioning here it takes over two weeks for the summons to be served on anyone outside India. In this case, the Ministry had raised objections when the summons was sent for the accused man in Australia as he has changed his address there and consequentially, it was left with no option but to request the court to permit summon through WhatsApp, SMS and e-mail.