Supreme Court notice to Centre on ‘male only’ summons
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre besides seeking the attorney general’s assistance on a PIL challenging a Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provision related to service of summons on a family’s male member only if an accused in a criminal case is not unavailable.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli sought responses from the ministries of law and justice, and home on the plea filed by Kush Kalra. The top court also sought the assistance of Attorney General R. Venkataramani to deal with the plea which alleged that the provision discriminates between male and female, and hence, is violative of various fundamental rights, including the right to equality.
“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 therefore on the back of the other duplicate,” reads section 64 of the CrPC.
The PIL said that the provision only provides for serving the summons to male members of the house if the accused is not found and this is violative of various fundamental rights.
