'Double Tick' on WhatsApp implies summons have been delivered

In March, the Delhi High Court permitted a woman to serve summons on her estranged husband through WhatsApp in a domestic violence case where the husband was putting up in Australia. In the present matter, the court said, “ double tick” on WhatsApp means that the summons has been delivered. The documents which are presented before the court reveals that there is “ Double Tick” on the printout of the Whatsapp messages. The court observed that this implies that the copy of the summons has been delivered on the mobile number of the estranged husband. Despite the service of summons been completed the husband did not appear before the court for the proceedings. Post this, the petitioner also submitted an affidavit stating that the mobile number and the e-mail address on which summons has been delivered belong to the husband only. In the present matter, the petitioner left for Australia to pursue further studies in 2015 leaving his wife and a two-year old daughter behind. After sometime, he served all contacts with the complainant. He never reciprocated to her attempts to contact him. Later, the wife filed a case of domestic violence and also sought maintenance for their daughter and herself.