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What is a 'Summon'?

A Summon is a document issued by a Court(Summons from court) to a person or an entity involved in a legal proceeding. A summons is a notice given to someone letting them know that there is a complaint or lawsuit filed against them and they are required to appear in court to respond to the complaint. How are summons served? A summons issued by court may be served on a person or an entity calling upon them to appear/remain present before the Court. The summon may be issued either to a person accused of a crime or to a witness in a legal proceeding. The Summon shall indicate the name of the Court before which the person is required to remain present along with the details of the case and the date on which the person is required to appear before the Court. As per Section 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (‘Cr. P. C.’) every summon that may be issued by the Court shall be in writing along with a duplicate copy bearing the signature of the Presiding Officer/Judge of the Court or any such officer that may be authorized by the Court and shall bear the seal of the Court. 

In this article we are going to discuss the summons procedure and types of summons, how many summons can be issued in civil cases,what happens if you get summoned to court and don't go, what is a court summon in India and what is a summon to appear in person.

Summons Procedure in India Issuance and service  {summons procedure}

Once a Summon is signed by the Presiding Officer/Judge and seal of the Court is affixed, the Summon is then given to a Police Officer to serve the same on the person summoned to the Court, ideally the summon should be served personally on the person who is summoned by tendering the duplicate copy of the summon. Now the question arises, “How are court summons delivered in India?”

How are court summons delivered in India 

·       However, if the person who is summoned cannot be found, the summon may be served on an adult male member of the family who resides with the person summoned.

·       In the event, if the summon could not be served, either on a concerned person or any adult male member of the family residing with him/her, after necessary due diligence, the serving officer may affix the duplicate copy of the summon on the door or any other noticeable part of the residence.

·       The Court upon making necessary inquiries as the case may either declare that the Summon has been duly served or may issue a fresh Summon for service in such manner as it may consider proper. 

The Summon may be served on a corporation/entity by serving it on a specifically designated representative of the entity (e.g. an office manager, secretary, and/or Director). If the person summoned is a Government Servant then the summon has to be sent to the head of the department, in which such person is employed. The head of the department has to serve the same on the concerned person and submit a report before the Court with appropriate signatures/endorsements. In addition to the aforesaid, when the person has to be summoned as a witness, the Court may also direct that a copy of the summon may be served on the person by registered post acknowledgement due along with the service in any of the above modes. This is how are court summons delivered in India

Learn about the types of summons, how many summons can be issued in civil cases, what happens if you get summoned to court and don't go and what is court summons in India. Get all the answers and more on Lawyered!

What happens if you get summoned to court and don’t go ?

Once the service of summoning has been effected, the person summoned has to remain present before the Court, in the event the person summoned cannot appear it is mandatory to inform the Court of the circumstance due to which the person summoned cannot remain present and upon the discretion of the Court, the person may be allowed to appear on next date. Under no circumstance the person should avoid appearing before the Court, in the event if the person summoned fails to appear before the Court, the Court may hold the person in contempt and/or issue Warrant against such person. 

Types of summons 

What are the different types of summons?

·       Civil summons- A civil summons is a type of summon given by one individual or entity to another individual or entity to show up in court and answer an appeal filed in court. This kind of summon informs the defendant that there is a civil action taken against them and they should appear in court to answer the charges. Typically, a civil action involves a lawsuit claiming damages, compensation for a loss or injury or injunction to force someone to do or not to do something.

·       Criminal summons- A criminal summons is a type of summon telling somebody to show up in a criminal court. There are various kinds of summons given with regards to criminal procedures, some are given by a peace officer or summon issued by police and others by the prosecutor.

·       Administrative summons- Administrative summons is one more type of summons given by a regulatory body approved in law to deal with a particular kind of investigation or legitimate issues. For instance, each jurisdiction will have a tax authority responsible for taking care of all matters connected with taxes. Your tax authority might have the power to give a summons for you to show up and give information related with your taxes. Each administrative court will have the ability to issue a summon in its own area of expertise. 

Court summons (Summons From Court)

Summons from court is a notice issued by a court requesting that you appear before it. The term summons from court is a general term used to refer to any type of summons issued by a court of any kind. And how are court summons delivered in India . There is no such provisions regarding how many summons can be issued in civil cases before issuing Bailable warrant. When the court is satisfied that summon is duly served to the party and any application is being made by the party for issuance of bailable warrant then the court may issue the summons in civil cases.

Civil summons 

A civil summons is a more detailed classification of a court summons. A summons issued by a civil court is referred to as a civil summons. When a plaintiff files a lawsuit or sues you in a civil court of law, he or she must serve you with a summons alerting you that a civil action has been filed. Civil lawsuits are legal methods used to settle disagreements between citizens.

A summons to appear in person is a court order to an individual to appear in person in court at a specified time and place. A summons to appear in person may be issued in both criminal and in civil cases. Every summons to appear in person shall be served by a police officer, or by an officer of the court issuing it or any other public servant.

Administrative summons 

Administrative summons is a type of summons  given by an administrative court. An administrative court is a particular court dealing with specific kinds of legal issues. For instance, you might have an immigration administrative court or environmental administrative court having abilities in its own subject matter to summon an individual or organization before it. An administrative summon will explicitly demonstrate which administrative court has issued the summons and how you should respond.

Criminal summons

A criminal summons is a type of summons explicitly connected with horrifying acts and criminal kinds of procedures established against somebody. Depending on your jurisdiction, there might be various sorts of summons a criminal court can issue.

Jury summons 

When you get a letter in the mail telling you that you are summoned to act as a potential juror, you have indeed received a jury summons. In criminal cases, and in some jurisdictions even in civil cases, a case can be heard by a jury. A jury is a group of ordinary citizens selected by the parties to a lawsuit to hear the case and render a verdict as instructed by the court. The jury summons cannot be ignored.  If you are not sure what to do, you should contact the court summoning you to appear as a potential juror.

Note: There are also Traffic summons for violation of traffics rules summon issued by police(traffic police). Or in case where an act tends to crime or public violations then the summon issued by police to that specific person. Which means the police has the authority if there’s any kind of public nuisance or criminal activity or an act which is an criminal activity or any traffic violations then summon issued by police.

And if there is a registered FIR against someone then the summon issued by police is valid as per the Section 160 of CrPc “Summons cannot be issued by the police without registering the FIR. So if there is a valid FIR the the summon issued by police is valid and the accused person need to pay his/her present which is mandatory.

Summons and complaint 

A summons and complaint is not a different type of summons in itself but it is a civil lawsuit summons accompanied with the actual complaint or petition outlining the reasons of the lawsuit and claims against you.

When the summons and the complaint are served at the same time, we refer to this as the summons and complaint.

What is a Warrant? 

A Warrant is a document issued by a Court to a person or an entity involved in a legal proceeding. A Warrant is issued only in serious offences and/or after duly served summons is disobeyed or if the accused has willfully avoided the services of the summons. If the accused seem to be avoiding the summons, the court, in the second instance, issues a bailable warrant. In the third instance, when the court is fully satisfied that the accused is avoiding the court's proceeding intentionally, the process of issuance of the non-bailable warrant is resorted to. A Bailable Warrant may be served on a person or an entity to ensure their presence before the Court and a Non – Bailable Warrant should be issued to bring a person or representative of any entity to Court when the summons or bailable warrants would be unlikely to have the desired result.6 A Warrant indicates the name and designation of the Police Officer in charge of executing the Warrant; it shall also bear name and address of the person against whom such Warrant has to be executed along with the offences under which the person is charged.

Summons Procedure for Issuance and Service of a Warrant {summons procedure}

A Police Officer may execute a Warrant by arresting and producing the person or representatives of the entity before the Court. Once the person or the representative of the entity is arrested by the Police, he/she must be produced before the Court within 24 hours. In the event, if there is delay in producing such a person before the Court, the officer is required to show sufficient cause for delay. As per section 70 of the Cr. P. C. every Warrant of arrest that is issued by the Court under the said section has to be in writing and shall bear the signature of the Presiding Officer/Judge along with the seal of the Court. The Warrant shall be in force until the same has been either executed by the Police officer or is cancelled by the Court that issued such Warrant. 

The Court issuing a Warrant for the arrest of a person may use its discretionary powers to make an endorsement on the Warrant that if the person concerned executes a bond with sufficient surety (ies) for his attendance before the Court at the specified time, the Court executing the Warrant may accept such surety and release the person from custody.8 

A Warrant of arrest is usually directed to one or more Police Officers but if no Police Officer is available immediately and if an immediate arrest is required then the Warrant of arrest may be directed to any other person(s) and in such cases, it may be executed by all or any one of them.9 Similarly, if an arrest is that of an escaped convict or a proclaimed offender or any person against whom the Non-Bailable Warrant is pending and such person is evading arrest, the Court can direct the Warrant of arrest to any person within his local jurisdiction for the arrest of such person. This procedure for executing the Warrant is commonly known as ‘Private Arrest’. 

In the event the Warrant has to be executed outside the local jurisdiction of the Court from which the Warrant has been issued, The Court issuing the Warrant shall forward the Warrant to the Court, Executive Magistrate and/or Commissioner of Police within local limits of whose jurisdiction it is to be executed and then such person shall execute the Warrant. Before executing the Warrant of Arrest the Police officer shall readout/inform and/or notify the substance of the Warrant and if required, show him/her the Warrant. 

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