JUDGMENT

C.Jayachandran , J.

The issue referred remind us of the Shakespearean quote in Macbeth, as it looks like an innocent flower, beneath which lies a serpentine conundrum.

At its core, the matter before us addresses the procedural framework for effecting service of summons in suits where defendants reside beyond India's borders. The question arose on account of an apparent dichotomy between the modes prescribed under Order V of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (for short, 'C.P.C') and the one under the “Convention on The Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial matters” ('the Hague Service Convention' for short). The answer lies in an analysis of the legal requirements to enforce an international treaty, in the backdrop of the constitutional provisions and precedents, binding. Whether the covenants of an international treaty/convention are enforceable per force of India subscribing its hands to such treaty? What if, such covenants are in conflict with the municipal laws? Should such covenants be specifically en-grafted to municipal law, applying the doctrine of incorporation? An answer to this reference require answer to these questions to