Name of the Case: Satender Kumar Antil v. Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr.
Citation: 2025 INSC 909
Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Bench: Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh
Date: 16.07.2025
In a crucial reasoning, the Hon’ble Supreme Court asserted that notices to accused under Section 41A CrPC and Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, must be served only through modes prescribed under law and not via electronic means such as WhatsApp or email. The Hon’ble Court reasoned that service of such notices directly impacts individual liberty, and hence, any deviation from the statutorily recognized process would violate constitutional protections under Article 21.
The Hon’ble Court distinguished between judicial acts (like court-issued summons, which may allow electronic service) and executive acts by investigating agencies (such as the Section 35 notice), and underscored that the latter must employ only those service methods expressly recognized by the statute. The Hon’ble Bench emphasized that while BNSS expressly allows electronic communication for Court summons and certain other communications, it does not extend such permission to investigatory notices having bearing on a person’s liberty, deliberately maintaining a higher threshold of procedural fairness for the accused1.
- https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2022/37889/37889_2022_6_6_62404_Judgement_16-Jul-2025.pdf ↩︎
