Serving of notice in a criminal revision before High Court

[Sugan Chandra Gupta]

Acriminal revision is filed before High Court a corporate body and 14 individuals. High Court asked the Copmplainant to issue notices to all and the Complainant could issue notices to 8 of them but could not issue to 7 of them as they have retired and adresses are not available with him but are available with the corporate public authority and sought time from court as they are to be obtained under RTI from the corporate body. The court granted two months time but the public authority refused to give adresses of retired people citing that no public interest is involved unless cognisance is taken.Appeal is made to Central Information Commissioner for urgent hearing citing High Court direction but was refused.The case is coming up for hearing on 14th Sept 2017,but myself Petitioner in person is unable to serve the notice to seven Resspondents in the absence of adresses. What options are available to the Complainant to pursue the case.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

If you have named those retired persons as respondents in your revision petition, then the duty is cast on you to provide their addresses.

If they are not necessary parties to the litigation (since you say that they are retired) depending on facts of the case, you can drop their names and in that case you’ll not be required to serve notice on them. Otherwise, in the absence of the basic requirements of address, how would the proceedings start? 

Another option could be to obtain their (previous) addresses from the previous stage of the case (from the court, against whose order you have filed the revision petition) and cite those addresses and send notices at those addresses, or you may have to go and make enquiries at those previous addresses.

Yet another option is if the corporate has refused to provide addresses only on the limited ground that the high court has not taken cognizance (or notice) of the matter so far, you may bring it to the knowledge of the high court and request it to issue appropriate order.

If those retired persons are getting pension from the corporate, you can also consider the option of serving the notice “care of” the corporate, and see if it helps.

Meanwhile, try to seek more time from the high court to serve notices on them.

Though it is not directly relevant since you have filed a criminal revision petition, let me point out that Order V, Rule 20(1), of the Code of Civil Procedure, provides that when the Court is satisfied that the defendant is keeping out of the way for the purpose of avoiding service, or that, for any other sufficient reason the summons cannot be served in the ordinary way, service may be effected by affixing a copy of the summons in some conspicuous place in the Court house, and also in some conspicuous place of the house, if any, in which the defendant is known to have last resided, or carried on business, or personally worked for gain, or in such other manner as the Court thinks fit. This Rule is reproduced below:

“20. Substituted service.— (1) Where the Court is satisfied that there is reason to believe that the defendant is keeping out of the way for the purpose of avoiding service, or that for any other reason the summons cannot be served in the ordinary way, the Court shall order the summons to be served by affixing a copy thereof in some conspicuous place in the Court House, and also upon some conspicuous part of the house (if any) in which the defendant is known to have last resided or carried on business or personally worked for gain, or in such other manner as the Court thinks fit.

(1-A) Where the Court acting under sub-rule (1) orders service by an advertisement in a newspaper, the newspaper shall be a daily newspaper circulating in the locality in which the defendant is last known to have actually and voluntarily resided, carried on business or personally worked for gain.

(2) Effect of substituted service.— Service substituted by order of the Court shall be as effectual as if it had been made on the defendant personally.

(3) Where service substituted, time for appearance to be fixed.— Where service is substituted by order of the Court, the Court shall fix such time for the appearance of the defendant as the case may require.” 

Section 64 (Service when persons summoned cannot be found) and Section 65 (Procedure when service cannot be effected as before provided) of the Criminal Procedure Code lay down somewhat similar procedure for criminal matters, however, they may not be of much help to you since in your case there are no formal summons issued, and secondly, you do not even know the addresses. However, you can go through the provisions of Chapter 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code relating to summons and warrants, for compelling the appearance in court, if they can apply in your case.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

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