Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
M.M. SUNDRESH, RAJESH BINDAL, JJ.
Satender Kumar Antil – Petitioner
Versus
Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr. – Respondent
Miscellaneous Application No. 2034 of 2022 in MA 1849/2021 in SLP(Crl) No. 5191 of 2021 With MA 2035 of 2022 in SLP(Crl) No. 5191 of 2021
Decided On : 21-01-2025

Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr. Adv.(AC) Mr. Akbar Siddique, AOR Mr. Karl P Rustomkhan, Adv. Mr. Suhail Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Mohd Osama, Adv. Mr. Mohammad Farman Ashraf, Adv. Mr. Shahzar Qureshi, Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. Suryaprakash V Raju, A.S.G. Mrs. Aishwariya Bahti, A.S.G. Mrs. Shradha Deshmukh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Ms. Sairica S Raju, Adv. Mr. Ritwiz Rishabh, Adv. Mr. Annam Venkatesh, Adv. Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv. Mr. Udai Khanna, Adv. Mr. Mohd Akhil, Adv. Mr. Padmesh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Tacho Eru, Adv. Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR Mr. Pai Amit, AOR Ms. Pankhuri Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Kushal Dube, Adv. Mr. Abhiyudaya Vats, Adv. Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Mohd Ashaab, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Jain, AOR Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR Ms. Kriti Gupta, Adv. Ms. Sagun Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Saaransh Shukla, Adv. Mr. Suvendu Suvasis Dash, AOR Mr. Srisatya Mohanty, Adv. Ms. Swati Vaibhav, Adv. Mr. Nabab Singh, Adv. Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR Mr. Avdhesh Singh, A.A.G. Ms. Prerna Dhall, Adv. Ms. Karishma Rajput, Adv. Mr. Gopinadh Mr, Adv. Mr. Rajyavardhan Mall, Adv. Mr. Prashant Singh, AOR Mr. P. I. Jose, AOR Mrs. Mary Scaria, Adv. Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Santhosh K, Adv. Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Rohit Bansal, Adv. Ms. Mrinalini Mukherjee, Adv. Mr. Rajiv Kumar Choudhry , AOR Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR Ms. Mythili S, Adv. Mr. Gagan Gupta, AOR Mr. Ahanthem Henry, Adv. Mr. Ahanthem Rohen Singh, Adv. Mr. Mohan Singh, Adv. Mr. Aniket Rajput, Adv. Ms. Khoisnam Nirmala Devi, Adv. Mr. Kumar Mihir, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Simranjeet Singh Rekhi, Adv. Ms. Muskan Surana, Adv. Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR Mrs. Shashi Pathak, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv. Mr. Vishal Prasad, AOR Ms. Asmita Singh, AOR Mr. Abheet Mangleek, Adv. Mr. Tushar Nair, Adv. Mr. Anirudh Anand, Adv. Mr. Punishk Handa, Adv. Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv. Mr. Aniruddha Awalgaonkar, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, AOR Mr. Sarthak Mehrotra, Adv. Mr. Bhagwant Deshpande, Adv. Ms. Subhi Pastor, Adv. Mr. Prashant Shrikant Kenjale, AOR Ms. Srishty Pandey, Adv. Ms. S. Soorya Gayathry, Adv. Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Mr. Ravi Shanker Jha, Adv. Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv. Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Mr. Yashvardhan, Adv. Mr. Apoorv Shukla, AOR Mr. Aman Panwar, Adv. Mr. Akash Panwar, Adv. Mr. Shivansh Saxena, Adv. Mr. Anuj Sehrawat, Adv. Mr. Mudit Gupta, AOR Mr. R.Basant, Sr. Adv. Mr. T. G. Narayanan Nair, AOR Mr. Manish Nair, Adv. Ms. Samyuktha H Nair, Adv. Mr. Maibam Nabaghanashyam Singh, AOR Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Ms. Pragya Bhagel, Adv. Mr. Sujeet Kumar Chaubey, Adv. Mr. Rahul Gupta, AOR Mr. Sarthak Raizada Ga, Adv. Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania, AOR Mr. Jitendra Kumar Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Amit Sharma, AOR Mr. Dipesh Sinha, Adv. Ms. Pallavi Barua, Adv. Ms. Aparna Singh, Adv. Mr. R. Ayyam Perumal, AOR Mr. A. Renganath, Adv. Ms. Manisha Ambwani, AOR Mr. Anjuman Tripathy, AOR Mr. Ardhendu Pratap Swain, Adv. Mr. Chandra Vardhan Singh, Adv. Mr. Shishir Kumar Saxena, Adv. Mr. R.n. Pareek, Adv. Mr. Ankur Parihar, Adv. Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar, Adv. General, Sr. Adv. Mr. T.k. Nayak, Adv. Mr. Vikas Bansal, Adv. Mr. Daniel Lyngdoh, Adv. Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Ms. Limayinla Jamir, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Enakshi Mukhopadhyay Siddhanta, AOR Mr. Govindarajan J, Adv. Mr. Kaushik Choudhury, AOR Mr. Debojit Borkakati, AOR Mr. Varinder Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv. Mr. Somesh Chandra Jha, AOR M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR Mr. Apoorv Kurup, AOR Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Ms. Himanshi Shakya, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Ms. Pragya Upadhyay, Adv. Ms. Drishti Saraf, Adv. Ms. Aakanksha, Adv. Mr. Ashish Batra, AOR Mr. Ankur Prakash, AOR Mr. Anupam Raina, AOR Mr. Nishant Kumar, Adv. Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Mr. Akshay Gupta, Adv. Mr. Aadithya Aravindh, Adv. Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv. Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv. Ms. Rooh-e-hina Dua, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Sudarshan Singh Rawat, AOR Ms. Rachna Gandhi, Adv. Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv. Mr. Aditya Jain, AOR Mr. Somanadri Goud Katam, AOR Mr. Sirajuddin, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv. Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Srujana Suman Mund, Adv. Ms. Neha Singh, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Singh, AOR Mr. Tapesh Kumar Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Akshat Choudhary, Adv. Ms. Vishakha, AOR Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Ankur Saigal, Adv. Mr. Anshuman Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Singh, Adv. Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv. Ms. Garima Prasad, Sr Adv, A.A.G. Mr. Shaurya Sahay, AOR Mr. Aditya Kumar, Adv. Ms. Ruchil Raj, Adv. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv. Ms. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Vineet Singh, Adv. Mr. S.N. Terdal, AOR Mr. Malak Manish Bhatt, AOR Mr. Amit Gupta, AOR Mr. Kshitij Vaibhav, Adv. Ms. Muskan Nagpal, Adv. Ms. Vidushi Bajpai, AOR Mr. Mohd. Yasin, Adv.

IMPORTANT POINT
Notice by Police – Notices under Section 41-A of Cr.P.C., 1973/Section 35 of BNSS, 2023 can be issued only through mode of service as prescribed under Cr.P.C., 1973/BNSS, 2023 – Service of notice through WhatsApp or other electronic modes cannot be considered or recognised as an alternative or substitute to mode of service recognised and prescribed under Cr.P.C., 1973/BNSS, 2023.

Headnote:
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 – Section 41-A [Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 – Section 35] – Notice by Police – All States/UTs must issue a Standing Order to their respective Police machinery to issue notices under Section 41-A of Cr.P.C., 1973/Section 35 of BNSS, 2023 only through mode of service as prescribed under Cr.P.C., 1973/BNSS, 2023 – Service of notice through WhatsApp or other electronic modes cannot be considered or recognised as an alternative or substitute to mode of service recognised and prescribed under Cr.P.C., 1973/BNSS, 2023 – All States/UTs must issue an additional Standing Order to their respective Police machinery to issue notices under Section 160 of Cr.P.C., 1973/Section 179 of BNSS, 2023 and Section 175 of Cr.P.C., 1973/Section 195 of BNSS, 2023 to accused persons or otherwise, only through mode of service as prescribed under the Cr.P.C., 1973/BNSS, 2023 – All High Courts must hold meetings of their respective Committees for “Ensuring Implementations of Decisions of Apex Court” on a monthly basis, in order to ensure compliance of both past and future directions issued by Supreme Court at all levels, and to also ensure that monthly compliance reports are being submitted by concerned authorities. (Para 11)
Facts of the case:
Three broad issues for consideration: –
(i) Release of Undertrial Prisoners (for short “UTPs”) on personal bond, based on verification of AADHAAR Card.
(ii) Service of Notice under Section 41-A of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and Section 35 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is to be made in person, as contemplated under the statutes, and not through WhatsApp or other electronic modes.
(iii) Whether sufficient steps have been taken by the High Courts to set in place an “Institutional Monitoring Mechanism” in pursuance of the order dated 06.08.2024 passed by this court?
Findings of Court:
Registrar Generals of respective High Courts and Chief Secretaries of all States/UTs are directed to ensure that due compliance of aforementioned directions (except Direction e) is made within a period of 3 weeks from today, and that Compliance Affidavits be mailed within a period of 4 weeks from today to dedicated email address for this purpose at complianceinantil@gmail.com.
Result : Directions issued.

Judgement Key Points

Certainly. Based on the provided legal document, here are the key points summarized:

Notices issued by Police under Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. and Section 35 of BNSS, 2023 must be served only through the modes of service specified under the respective statutes. Service via electronic modes such as WhatsApp cannot be recognized as a valid or substitute method of service (!) .
All States and Union Territories are required to issue Standing Orders to their police authorities to ensure notices under the relevant sections are served only through prescribed methods, in accordance with established guidelines upheld by the Court (!) (!) .
An additional Standing Order is mandated for issuing notices under Sections 160 of Cr.P.C., 1973, Section 179 of BNSS, 2023, and Section 175 of Cr.P.C., 1973, 2023 respectively, again only through prescribed modes of service (!) .
High Courts must convene monthly meetings of their "Ensuring the Implementation of the Decisions of the Apex Court" committees to monitor compliance and ensure timely submission of compliance reports by relevant authorities (!) .
Specific directions were issued regarding the compliance status of certain States and UTs, notably emphasizing that the UT of Lakshadweep must submit a fresh compliance affidavit within two weeks and that this is the final opportunity for compliance. Failure to do so may result in the Chief Secretary being required to appear in person (!) (!) .
The Registrar Generals of High Courts and Chief Secretaries of States/UTs are instructed to ensure compliance with the directions within three weeks, with affidavits to be submitted within four weeks to a designated email address. Prompt submission is emphasized, and non-compliance will attract appropriate consequences (!) (!) .
The issue regarding the release of undertrial prisoners on personal bonds based on Aadhaar verification is noted, with further deliberation and consultation on effective implementation planned for the next hearing (!) (!) .
The Court recognizes instances where notices under the relevant sections were sent electronically but not in accordance with statutory requirements, highlighting the need for strict adherence to prescribed procedures (!) .
The Court emphasizes the importance of institutional monitoring mechanisms at the High Court level to ensure ongoing compliance with past and future directives, including regular meetings and submission of compliance reports (!) (!) .
The next hearing is scheduled for a specific date, and the Court underscores the importance of timely compliance and submission of affidavits, warning of consequences for non-compliance (!) .

These points encapsulate the Court’s directives, the procedural requirements for notices, compliance monitoring, and specific issues related to the case, without referencing specific case law.

ORDER

We have heard the learned Amicus Curiae, Sh. Siddharth Luthra, and the learned counsel appearing for the respective parties.

2. The learned Amicus has filed the compliance report dtd. 20.01.2025 before this Court after a detailed analysis of the Affidavits/Reports filed by the States, Union Territories (for short “UTs”) and the High Courts, filed in pursuance of the directions passed by this Court vide earlier orders dtd. 11.07.2022, 03.02.2023, 21.03.2023, 02.05.2023, 13.02.2024, 06.08.2024 and 15.10.2024.

3. Certain additional directions were also issued by this Court vide order dtd. 15.10.2024 to all the States, UTs and the High Courts to make use of the Model Affidavit filed by the High Court of Meghalaya to ensure compliance of earlier directions in Para. F of the order dtd. 06.08.2024, so that an ‘Institutional Monitoring Mechanism’ can be set in place to ensure full and complete compliance of not only the earlier directions passed, but also of those directions that may be passed by this Court in the future as well.

4. The learned Amicus submitted that in pursuance of this Court’s order dtd. 11.12.2024, all the concerned parties have reported either full or part compliance of the directions issued by this court, except for the State of Mizoram (which has filed its Compliance Affidavit way beyond the deadline given by this Court) and the UT of Lakshadweep (which has merely refiled its earlier Compliance Affidavit dtd. 21.05.2023).

5. The learned Amicus has flagged off three broad issues for our consideration. They are as follows :

(ii) Service of Notice under Section 41-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short “CrPC, 1973”) and Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short “BNSS, 2023”) is to be made in person, as contemplated under the statutes, and not through WhatsApp or other electronic modes.

(iii) Whether sufficient steps have been taken by the High Courts to set in place an “Institutional Monitoring Mechanism” in pursuance of the order dtd. 06.08.2024 passed by this court?

SUBMISSIONS UNDER ISSUE (i)

6. Under Issue (i), the learned Amicus submitted that in Para. 7 of its additional Compliance Affidavit dtd. 14.10.2024, the NALSA has accepted and recorded the suggestion of the Amicus regarding release of UTPs on personal bonds after verification of their AADHAAR Card details and depositing the same in the concerned Court, in cases where no application under Section 440 of CrPC, 1973 or Section 484 of BNSS, 2023 has been preferred by the UTP, despite being informed about their right to move such an application.

7. The learned Amicus also submitted that he seeks time to consult and deliberate with the learned counsel for the NALSA about the feasibility of coming up with an effective and efficient proposal for the release of UTPs on the aforementioned terms. Hence, the said issue may be taken up on the next date of hearing.

SUBMISSIONS UNDER ISSUE (ii)

8. Under Issue (ii), the learned Amicus submitted and flagged off instances where notice(s) under Section 41-A of CrPC, 1973 were sent to the accused through WhatsApp, but the accused did not appear before the Investigating Officer(s). No action was taken against such erring officer(s). He has brought to the attention of this Court a Standing Order dtd. 26.01.2024 issued by the office of the DGP, Haryana which permits Police Officers to serve notices under Section 41-A of CrPC, 1973/Section 35 of BNSS, 2023 in person or through WhatsApp, e-mail, SMS or any other electronic mode.

9. He further submitted that this Court in Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI & Anr. (2022) 10 SCC 51, approved and upheld the judgment passed by the Delhi High Court in Rakesh Kumar v. Vijayanta Arya (DCP) & Ors. 2021 SCC Online Del 5629, wherein it was held that notice served through WhatsApp or other electronic modes is not contemplated as a mode of service unde