Blue tick on WhatsApp can land you in legal trouble

Law states that a notice is served in person or through registered post. The
I-T Act recognises electronic communication as proof in court.

ET Online| Updated: Jun 16, 2018, 02.33 PM IST

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Legal notice or messages sent through WhatsApp messaging app are valid
legal evidence under law, and the blue tick over the messaging app is a valid
proof that the respondent has accepted the physical copies of the
communication, said Bombay High Court.

The Bombay High Court, while hearing an application filed by the SBI Cards
and Payments Services Pvt Ltd (the claimant) against a resident Rohit Jadhav,
observed that the defaulter, who was evading the bank, had not only received
the notice in a PDF file but also opened it and read its contents.

“(Jadhav) was served by an authorised officer by sending a PDF and message

to his mobile number as a WhatsApp message,” Justice Gautam S Patel said in
his order.

"For the purposes of service of notice under Order XXI Rule 22 of the Code of
Civil Procedure, I will accept this. I do so because the icon indicators clearly
show that not only were the message and its attachment delivered to the
respondent's number, but that both were opened," Justice Patel said.
SBI Cards had filed a case against Jadhav, a Nalasopara (Mumbai) resident for
recovery of credit card dues of Rs 1.17 lakh, but Jadhav was not accepting any
notice or communication from the company or its legal representatives. After
tracing Jadhav's mobile number, the company sent a notice on WhatsApp and
the kept the record of the message.

Jadhav had credit card dues of Rs 85,000 in 2010. In 2011, following

arbitration proceedings, he was ordered to pay back the amount along with
interest. When he failed to make the payment, the company approached the
high court with the execution application in 2015 to enforce the award. Over
the past two years, the bank had been trying to serve the notice about the
litigation on Jadhav but without success as he kept shifting his rental
accommodation.

Law states that a notice is served in person or through registered post.

Following the enactment of the I-T Act, which recognises electronic
communication as evidences, courts have allowed legal notices through email.

(Inputs from PTI)