Greek and Latin - DDT's new feature

By Vijay Kumar

Dasti: - Let's take an Indian word today that is more Latin than Latin. This simply means service of a notice or order by hand. There are several laws in India which have a provision, "The service of a notice shall be made by hand delivery (Dasti)". When you need an order urgently you can request the Court to give it Dasti.

The law permits the plaintiff to serve notice. It is called dasti service or hand summons wherein the petitioner is also given the permission to serve contempt notices on the contemners. A copy of the summons is obtained from the court registry and served on the party with an acknowledgement taken.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in Parkash Singh v Chinta Devi - (2001) 1 J & K Law Reporter 156 - observed, "There is no dispute with the legal proposition and there is nothing in the Civil Procedure Code which expressly inhibits the service of summonses by the mode, known as ‘Dasti’ process. It is also true that the language of Rule 8 of Order 16 is very flexible and the words ‘as nearly as may be’ there-under are wide enough to permit the issue of Dasti process for witnesses also."

In 2005-TIOL-38-CESTAT-DEL, the Tribunal had directed that the order be given DASTI.

(If you can pardon me a little autobiographical reference, which DDT tries to avoid assiduously, I never knew about Dasti, until I recently won a writ in the High Court. The favourable order of the High Court was crucial to my case in the Tribunal the next day and I had no clue as to how the High Court order will reach the Tribunal the next day. Dasti came to my rescue.)