Kerala Government Notifies Service of Summons Rules: Police Can Now Serve Court Summons via Email, WhatsApp, Telegram
Kiran Raj
The Government of Kerala has issued The Kerala Procedure for Service of Summons Rules, 2025, enabling police officers to serve court summons directly or through electronic modes such as email, WhatsApp, or Telegram. The notification, published in the Kerala Gazette Extraordinary on April 10, 2025, was issued under G.O. (P) No. 47/2025/Home and S.R.O. No. 428/2025 by the Home (S) Department, in exercise of the powers under sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Central Act 46 of 2023). The rules have come into force at once.
The notification states that the rules may be called The Kerala Procedure for Service of Summons Rules, 2025. It defines “Sanhita” as the Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and “Register” as the register of summons maintained under Rule 4.
The core provision appears in Rule 3(1), which mandates that upon receipt of any summons issued by a Court at the police station, the police officer shall serve the summons directly or through electronic mode such as email, WhatsApp, or Telegram. Additionally, Rule 3(2) directs that when the summons is received at the police station, the officer in charge shall duly entrust it to a police personnel for service.
Rule 4 requires every police station to maintain a Register of Summons in the form appended to the rules, as per sub-section (1) of Section 64 of the Sanhita.
Rule 5 specifies the manner of service. The serving officer must ensure proper acknowledgement of the person receiving the summons on one of the duplicates and return it to the issuing court through the officer in charge of the police station, along with a report detailing the manner of service. In case the summons is served by electronic mode, a printout from the electronic device must be taken and forwarded to the issuing court, duly attested by the officer in charge, along with the service report.
Rule 6 pertains to e-summons. When an e-summons bearing the court’s seal or digital signature is received at the police station, the officer in charge is required to take a printout and serve the summons as provided in Rule 3.
The notification has been issued by order of the Governor and signed by Bishwanath Sinha, Additional Chief Secretary to Government.
[Read/Download notification]
