JANARDHANA RAMKRISHNA SHARMA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Pursuant to the order passed by this Court on 02.03.2020, the petitioner has joined corpus as respondents nos. 8 and 9 and their addresses have been given of Jamaika. Service of notice since has been directed to be made through the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi and through the office of High Commission of India, Kingston upon both the girls namely Lopamudra and Nandhitha, the Court has ascertained from the Registry, the present status of notices, to realize that to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, notices have been already served on 12.03.2020.

(2.) The service of notice since need to go from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the Office of High Commission of India, Kingston, attention of ours is also drawn by the office that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued comprehensive guidelines regarding investigation abroad and issue of Letters Rogatory (Lrs) in 2007 and regarding service of summons / notices / judicial documents on the persons residing abroad, in 2009. For streamlining the process of MLAT in criminal matters, the guidelines have been revised in respect of Letters Rogatory, MLA request and service of summons / notices / judicial documents etc. keeping in mind the various legal and technical developments so also to make documentation in this regard more precise and focused. Part-A under the heading of request for service of summons / notices / judicial process on person residing abroad describes as to how the request for service of summons / notices / judicial documents shall be addressed. Part-B with the heading of important points to be noted for making a request for service of summons / notices / judicial process, provides that the foreign courts or authorities require at least a period of 10 weeks for transmission of request and service of summons / notices / judicial process upon the person concerned and therefore the next date of hearing/appearance for the case may be decided accordingly.

(3.) Noticing the fact that Ministry of External Affairs has received the communication from this Court on 12.03.2020, it may take further 8 to 10 weeks to the summons / notices to be served effectively upon the respondent nos. 8 and 9 so also noticing that these guidelines have been prepared in the year 2007 and 2009 where possibly there was no extensive and advanced use of technology in the court processes, the service through email or any other e-mode has not been contemplated.