CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,

PATNA

Subject: Criminal Law - II

PROJECT: SUMMONS TO THE ACCUSED AND ITS

SERVICES.

Project submitted by:

Aman Aditya

Roll no.:1204

BBALL.B., 2nd year

Submitted to:

Father Peter Ladis

Lecturer

Chanakya National aw University

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Writing a project is one of the most significant academic challenges I have ever faced. Though
this project has been presented by me but there are many people who remained in veil, who gave
their all support and helped me to complete this project.

First of all I am very grateful to my subject teacher Father Peter Ladis for giving me this topic to
research on.

I am very thankful to the librarian who provided me several books on this topic which proved
beneficial in completing this project.

I acknowledge my friends who gave their valuable and meticulous advice which was very useful
and could not be ignored in writing the project.

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 INDEX

RESEACH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................ 4

OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................................... 5
HYPOTHESIS .................................................................................................................................................. 6
PURPOSE FOR SERVING A SUMMON ............................................................................................................ 7
SUMMON TO THE ACCUSED ......................................................................................................................... 8
ESSENTIALS OF SUMMON ........................................................................................................................... 10
WAYS OF DULY SERVING SUMMON TO THE ACCUSED .............................................................................. 12
I. Summon should be served personally ............................................................................................ 13
II. Service when persons summoned cannot be found....................................................................... 13
III. Procedure when service cannot be effected as before provided............................................... 14
SUMMON OUTSIDE JURISDICTION ............................................................................................................. 16
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS .............................................................................................................. 18
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................ 19

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 RESEACH METHODOLOGY

In this project, the researcher has relied on the ‘Doctrinal Method’, which is primarily based
upon books, journals, news, articles and from various online sources and publications. A
comprehensive study is made in order to arrive at analytical & critical support of the arguments.
The segments are structured and written actively. The writing style is descriptive as well as
analytical. This project has been done after a thorough research based upon intrinsic and
extrinsic aspect of the assigned topic.

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 OBJECTIVES

 To study about the reasons for serving summon.

 To study about procedures followed for proper serving of summon.
 To study about Modus Operandi of summon.
 To study about the various ways in which summon is duly served.

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 HYPOTHESIS

 Summons is always served to an individual body and it should always be in writing.

 Summon can be served in different ways
 Summon can be served by post.

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 PURPOSE FOR SERVING A SUMMON

A summon is process issued from the office or the court of justice requiring a person to whom it
is addressed to attend the court for the purpose therein stated1. Summon is addressed to an
individual who can be either an accused or an witness, in writing or duplicate and signed by the
presiding officer of the court or anybody appointed for this purpose by the high court.

The provision of serving of summon is given under chapter VI of Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973. This provision of summon is given to compel the appearance of the concerned person in
the court of law and such person can be either an accused or a witness. The main motives behind
serving a summon is to let the person know that his presence required by the court as a witness
or as an accused .

The provision of serving of summon is not limited up to individuals only bot it can also be sent
to corporate bodies and societies2, service of summon on government servants3.the only requisite
is that the body on whom this summon issued is required by the court of law as a witness or an
accused.

The main purpose of serving summon is to compel the appearance of the accused or witness at
specified time and date to help the court of law in its working.

1
Concise law dictionary.
2
Section 63, code of criminal procedure, 1973.
3
Section 66, code of criminal procedure, 1973.

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 SUMMON TO THE ACCUSED

As we have already that summon can be issued to both witness and accused. The term “accused”
is not limited only to an individual person but it can also be issued on corporate bodies and
societies and government servants when their presence is required by the court.

Service of summon on corporate bodies and societies4 service of summon on a corporation

may be effected by serving it to on the secretary, local manager or other principle officer of the
corporation, or by letter sent by registered post, addressed to the chief officer of the corporation
in India, in which case the service shall be deemed to have been effected when the letter would
arrive in ordinary course of post. Explanation.- In this section" corporation" means an
incorporated company or other body corporate and includes a society registered under the
Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860 ).

Service of summon on corporate body or a society may be made be served personally as laid
down in section 62 on secretary, local manager of corporation or by letter sent by registered post
and addressed to chief officer of the corporation in india.

Issue of summon against a company: when a company is an accused, the summons shall be
iisued in name of company no doubt that ate summon may be served on secretary, local manger
and others. Here the officer mentioned will be meant to represent the company in such
prosecution. The said officer can’t be put on trial. It is only the company that is prosecuted
through the officers or the proprietors and process is to be issued against the firm and not against
the officer or the proprietor5.

Service of summon on government servant6: Where the person summoned is in the active
service of the Government the Court issuing the summons shall ordinarily send it in

4
Section 63, Code of criminal procedure,1973.
5
Amrnath v. state of bihar, 1976 Cri LJ 1778 (pat).
6
Section 66, code of criminal procedure, 1973.

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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 provided by section 62, and shall return
it to the Court under his signature with the endorsement required by that section.

(2) Such signature shall be evidence of due service.

Manner of service on government servants: the summon shall be sent in duplicate to tye head
of the office in which the person served is employed. The head of the office shall cause the
summon to be served personally as under section 62 of the act. The head office shall return the
summon with the endorsement under section 62 of the person to be served and with his own
signature to the court issuing.

Head office shall serve and may seek adjournment: when after receiving summon if the
person cannot appear on the fixed date, then application may be made by such person or the
superior to adjourn the case. But if he senior refuses to serve the it would amount to contempt of
court7.

Section doesn’t apply to orders or notices from police officers: the manner of service through
head of police applies to summon issued by court of justice and not of police officers,
investigating a crime and therefore such government servant cannot refuse the service of orders
from the police officer on the ground that the summons should be served through the head of his
office8

If the summon served under this section bears the signature of head office then it will be
assumed that summon is duly served.

7
Brij vallabh khan v. A.R. Khan, AIR 1958 RAJ 293.
8
Venkata ramaih, AIR 1918 Mad 815.

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 ESSENTIALS OF SUMMON

Section 61 0f the Act deals with the essentials of a summon which states that Every summons
issued by a Court under this Code shall be in writing, in duplicate, signed by the presiding officer
of such Court or by such other officer as the High Court may, from time to time, by rule direct,
and shall bear the seal of the Court.

Form of summon: the summon has to be issued according to form no. 1 of second schedule9.
The valid requisites of summon are it should be in writing, that it should be in duplicate it must
be signed by the presiding officer of the court o any officer as high court or state govt. may
direct, it all have a clear seal of the court10. It shall also be accompanied by a copy of complaint
in the complaint case.

Summon to contain place and time of offence- a summon issued by a magistrate court must
state the particular of the place where, and the time when to appear and nature of particulars of
offence charged11.

Summon should be signed and sealed: summon should be sealed and signed by person
specially authorized and not any other person not having the competent power to do so
authorised12.

Name of complainant is not required to be present in the summon only place required for
presence is sufficient. If essential this which should be in summon is not present there then the
person on whom it is issued may be disregarded but once it is accepted by the concerned person
it has full binding value and it cannot be head be invalid on mere ground that such summon is
not containing certain essential things which it should contain. But the thing which is necessary

9
Manoranjan chakraborty v. state, 1970 Cri LJ 1554.
10
Revappa v. gurusanthawwa, AIR 1960 mys 198, 1960 Cri LJ 1107.
11
Manoranjan chakraborty v. state, 1970 Cri LJ 1554.
12
Revappa v. gurusanthawwa, AIR 1960 mys 198, 1960 Cri LJ 1107.

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that the summon must contain the things and all relevant facts about the offence alleged and it
shall also contain the place and time where the person on whom such summon has been issued
should appear. summon shall be have a duplicate copy and seal of court must be present on the
summon to call this summon as a valid summon. If all these things are present in summon then
such a summon can be held as a valid summon.

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 WAYS OF DULY SERVING SUMMON TO THE ACCUSED

Section 62 deals with the provisions that summons how to be served of the Act.

(1) Every summons shall be served by a police officer, or subject to such rules as the State
Government may make in this behalf, by an officer of the Court issuing it or other public servant.

(2) The summons shall, if practicable, be served personally on the person summoned, by
delivering or tendering to him one of the duplicates of the summons.

(3) Every person on whom a summons is so served shall, if so required by the serving officer,
sign a receipt therefor on the back of the other duplicate.

By whom summon to be served A summon has to be served under this code by the police
officer or if rules have been made by court the any officer of the court issuing the summon or
any other public servant if they are so authorised13. It is also very important that the person on
whom summon has been served has to be present in the court for whole day which he has been
summoned and not only for the time only for which he has been summon. This is inherent in the
order of summon.the person so summoned by the court shall not leave the court without
permission unless the case is finished14.

Procedure for issuance of summon in criminal cases: The process of issuance of summon
don’t contemplate the issuance of summon to the accused by the post. Such procedure is
permissible only for witness and not the accused. Non-compliance with summon is a punishable
offence. If the person don’t follow the summon or the summon has not be been proved frutful the
in such cases court is authorised to issue warrant.

13
Pahilaraj v. Jethi bai, AIR 1959 Pat 433.
14
Balroop sharma v. State of U.P., AIR 1956 ALL 270.

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Manner of service of summon.

I. Summon should be served personally: The summons shall, if practicable, be served

personally on the person summoned, by delivering or tendering to him one of the
duplicates of the summons15. Thus should be taken into mind that for s valid service of
summon it should be delivered to the concerned person directly.

II. Service when persons summoned cannot be found. Where the person summoned
cannot, by the exercise of due diligence, be found, the summons may be served by
leaving one of the duplicates for him with some adult male member of his family residing
with him, and the person with whom the summons is so left shall, if so required by the
serving officer, sign a receipt therefor on the back of the other duplicate16.

Summons to a person can be served on a male adult member of his family, only where
the person entrusted with summons is unable, in spite of his best endeavours, to effect
personal service, either on the ground that the person had evaded such service or that he
cannot be found. However, service on a woman, for example, mother of the person
summoned, is not warranted under this section.

Where a witness was found absent at the time the summons were taken, it alone does not
show that he cannot be found after due diligence17. The accused was allowed to examine
four witnesses on his behalf but court refused to issue warrant or fresh summons to those
of the witnesses who failed to attend the court to give evidence. On petition having been
presented to High Court it was held that accused has a right to seek assistance of court to
enforce attendance of defaulting witnesses. Closing the evidence on behalf of accused
without permitting to take steps to enforce the attendance of other witnesses allowed to
be examined by him would amount denial of fair opportunity to put forth his case.

15
Section 62(2), code of criminal procedure, 1973.
16
Section 64 , code of criminal procedure, 1973.
17
Rama Chandra Mishra v. State, IV (1995) CCR 663 (Ori).

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 Magistrate was directed to take steps to secure presence of witnesses18. When an accused,
on whose father notice of appeal was served, did not appear at the hearing, the High
Court observed that, before it could proceed with the hearing of appeal, it must have an
affidavit from the person entrusted with the service of the notice that, in spite of his best
endeavours, he was unable to find the accused.

III. Procedure when service cannot be effected as before provided. If service cannot by
the exercise of due diligence be effected as provided in section 62, section 63 or section
64, the serving officer shall affix one of the duplicates of the summons to some
conspicuous part of the house or homestead in which the person summoned ordinarily
resides; and thereupon the Court, after making such inquiries as it thinks fit, may either
declare that the summons has been duly served or order fresh service in such manner as it
considers proper19.

Substituted service of a summons should be ordered only after proper steps to serve the
accused personally have proved ineffective. The procedure provided by section 65 cannot
be made use of, unless service in the manner mentioned in sections 63 and 64 cannot be
effected by the exercise of due diligence. Where the return of the peon showed that
service could not be effected personally as provided by section 62, it should be shown
that it could not be effected in the manner provided in section 64, before recourse is had
to section 65.

Where the service by affixture is made in the office and that also in non-conformance to
the provisions of sections 64 and 65, presumption cannot be available and the service in
the case must be held to be bad and repugnant20.Where the witness does not return the
summons, instead of closing prosecution the court should send summons by registered
post or through higher authorities21. This provision will be used in the case when even
after going various times to the house of the concerned person his gates are found closed

18
G.V. Reddy v. M/s. O.T.S. Advertising, 2002 Cr LJ 3515 (AP).
19
Section 65, code of criminal procedure, 1973.
20
Hemendra Nath Chowdhury v. Archana Chowdhury, 1971 Cr LJ 817 (Cal) : AIR 1971 Cal 244.
21
State of Karnataka v. Nallayappa, 1996 Cr LJ 3539 (Kant)

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and in such case the officer whom is authorised to serve the summon can do so by
affixing this summon to any conspicuous part of house or any conspicuous part of village
or town where such person resides. If summon has been served by the provisions of
section 65 i.e. by substituted service of summon then the court is duty bound to whether
the summon is dully served or not.

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 SUMMON OUTSIDE JURISDICTION

Service of summons outside local limits 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 local jurisdiction the person summoned resides, or is, to
be there served22. In such case the summon has to be sent to magistrate in whose local
jurisdiction the concerned person is residing and then such magistrate shall further proceed with
its execution under this Act.

Proof of service in such cases and when serving officer not present.

(1) When a summons issued by a Court is served outside its local jurisdiction, and in any case
where the officer who has served a summons is not present at the hearing of the case, an
affidavit, purporting to be made before a Magistrate, that such summons has been served, and a
duplicate of the summons purporting to be endorsed (in the manner provided by section 62 or
section 64) by the person to whom it was delivered or tendered or with whom it was left, shall be
admissible in evidence, and the statements made therein shall be deemed to be correct unless and
until the contrary is proved.

(2) The affidavit mentioned in this section may be attached to the duplicate of the summons and
returned to the Court23.

It is not mandatory that the affidavit required under this code shall be presented personal to the
court. It will serve the purpose if the affidavit is attached with the duplicate of the summons and
are returned to the court.

22
Section 67, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
23
Section 68, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

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When the summon has to be served beyond the territory of India in such cases the summon has
to be sent to the Indian embassy as it is the floating island and such Embassy is required to fulfill
and complete the process of execution of summon with the help of local authorities of the court.

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 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

A summon is process issued from the office of the court of Justice requiring a person to whom it
is addressed to attend the court for purpose therein stated. The format of summon to an accused
is given in form 1 schedule II. Summon is addressed to an individual who is witness and should
be in writing or duplicate and signed by presiding officer by the court or anybody appointed for
this purpose by High court. The provisions of summon are given under section 61 to 69 of CrPC.
Summon must also bear the seal of the court and it is issued to compel appearance of person or
produce things or documents.

A summon to the accused can be served by different ways. If the summon is handed over to the
person to whom it is issued then it is personal service of summon given under section 62(2) of
the code. If the concerned officer goes the serve the summon various time and doesn’t find the
person in whose name it is issued the he can give it to an adult male member of the family and
get it signed this is extended service of summon given under section 64 of the code. If the
concerned officer even after going several times to the finds nobody at the house in such case he
can paste a copy of summon at any conspicuous place, such type of summon is known as
substituted service of summon given under section 65 of the code. If summon is served by any of
the above process summon will be taken as summon duly served. A summon beyond the
jurisdiction has be served following the provisions of section 67 and 68 of the Act. A summon to
the accused can’t be served by registered post. A summon is duly served to the accused when it
is served according to the above said provisions.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books.

 B M Prasad, Manish Mohan(2013) The Code of Criminal Procedure: Ratanlal &

Dhirajlal.
 Criminal Manual, Delhi: Universal Law Publishing House.
 K.D. Gaur, Textbook on The Code of Criminal Procedure, New Delhi: Universal law
publishing House
 Dr. K.N. Chandrasekharan Pillai(2014) Criminal Procedure - R.V. Kelkar's Criminal
Procedure, New Delhi: eastern Book Company.
 Kartaria & Naqvi(2007) Code of Criminal Procedure: Batuk lal’s: Orient publishing
House

Web sources

 http://hanumant.com/CrPC-Unit2-Summons.html
 http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/articles/Service-of-summon-what-how-and-why--
4472.asp
 ndiankanoon.org/search/?formInput=appearance%20of%20accused%20before%2
0court%20on%20summons
 manupatra.com

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