Summon in India

Summons.
Types of summons.
Modes of summons.
Serving summons in India.
Explanation of summons under various headings.

1. SUMMONS. WHAT IS A SUMMON? HOW IS IT SERVED?

2. WHAT IS A SUMMON? When a suit is instituted by the plaintiff the court orders to issue summons to the defendant . This is to permit the defendant to appear and answer the claim of the plaintiff. This ensures a fair trial. Without a duly served summons no further action can be taken against the defendant. So sending of summons is very important in a civil case.

3. Provision of Service of Summons in the CPC- Section 27 and Order 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure deals with the service of summons to defendant . As per section 27 the summons may be served on such day not beyond thirty days from the date of the institution of suit. Now you should look at the provisos of Order 5 Rule 1 of CPC. No such summons shall be issued when a defendant has appeared at the presentation of plaint and admitted the plaintiff's claim . So in order to attract this provision the defendant must appear and as well as admit the claim.

4. Mode of service of summons- A Magistrate issuing a summons to an accused or a witness may direct a copy of summons to be served at the place where such accused or witness ordinarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain, by speed post or by such courier services as are approved by a Court of Session. Where an acknowledgment purporting to be signed by the accused or the witness or an endorsement purported to be made by any person authorized by the postal department or the courier services that the accused or the witness refused to take delivery of summons has been received, the Court issuing the summons may declare that the summons has been duly served.

5. SERVING SUMMONS IN INDIA- Service by Publication : If a person cannot be found, some jurisdictions allow service by publication, which typically involves printing the legal notice in the local newspaper for a specified number of days . Service of process on a foreign defendant who lives in another country must satisfy all the requirement of an international agreement called the Hague Service Convention.

6. SERVING SUMMONS IN INDIA- Substituted service: In many jurisdictions, service of process may also be accomplished through substituted service if the party to be served is unavailable . With substituted service, the legal documents may be left with a third party, such as a spouse or employer. Substituted service can also be done through the use of certified mail, which provides a mailing receipt and a record of the delivery. Substituted service usually cannot be utilized unless it is shown that regular service of process will cause hardship or is impracticable, and that the substituted service will actually reach the intended recipient.

7. SERVING SUMMONS IN INDIA- Process Server : The actual delivery of the legal documents is done by a non-interested process server, who is not a party to the litigation . The process server must be an adult, and they usually serve legal documents as a profession. Some jurisdictions have certain licensing or certification requirements for private process servers. Process servers can also be court or government officials, such as a sheriff, deputy, constable, or marshal.

8. EXPLAINATIONS UNDER VARIOUS HEADINGS- Motor accidents: In the vast majority of cases, the Police must "lay information" within 6 months of the offence occurring. This means that the Police must ask the Court to issue a Summons within that period of time . Government servant: Where the person summoned is in the active service of the Government, the Court issuing the summons shall ordinarily send it in duplicate to the Head of the office, in which such person is employed and such head shall thereupon cause the summons to be served in the manner as explained above and shall return it to the Court under his signature with the endorsement as required by law . When a Court desires that a summons issued by it shall be served at any place outside its local jurisdiction, it shall ordinarily send such summons in duplicate to a Magistrate within whose jurisdiction the person summoned resides.

9. EXPLAINATIONS UNDER VARIOUS HEADINGS- Defendant Resides In Another State: A summons may be sent for service in another State to such Court and in such manner as may be prescribed by rules in force in that State . Foreign Summonses: ( a) any Civil or Revenue Court established in any part of India to which the provisions of this Code do not extent, or ( b) any Civil or Revenue Court established or continued by the authority of the Central Government outside India, or ( c) any other Civil or Revenue Court outside India to which the Central Government has, by notification in the Official Gazette, declared the provisions of this section to apply,may be sent to the Courts in the territories to which this Code extends, and served as if they were summonses issued by such Courts.

10. EXPLAINATIONS UNDER VARIOUS HEADINGS- Divorce: Service of summons can in divorce cases can be sent by Registered Post with Acknowledgment Due (RPAD), or through the bailiff . Commercial Disputes: Commercial Division of High Courts Bill, 2009, allows the plaintiff to send service of summons to defendant through electronic mail . Personal Service In India: Private process servers may serve documents in most countries, whether a signatory to the Hague Service Convention, or not.