If a Court of law has issued a Summons against you after a complaint/petition has been filed against you, then legally you cannot refuse to accept the summons, and you are bound to appear before the concerned Court personally or through a lawyer or as mentioned in the said Summons.
➧A summons is an order of the Court in
the form of a document, by which it directs someone to appear before the Court
of law on a specific day at a certain time.
➧It is the beginning of a legal case
filed in the Court, and it is issued to the opposite party/Defendant in a civil
case, and to the accused in a criminal case, with the direction to appear
before the Court for defending a case. filed by the Plaintiff/Complainant.
➧It is issued on the direction of a
Court to call a person to appear before a Judge or judicial officer of the
Court.
➧As per Section 61 of the
Criminal Procedure Code, every summons issued by a 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.
What is
included in a Summons?
Generally a Summons
includes:
➣The name of the Court
issuing the summons.
➣The name of the party to
whom the Summons is sent.
➣The number assigned to
the case by the court
➣The names of the
Plaintiff (person filing suit) and Defendant
➣Details of the filed
case
➣Information for the
Defendant on which date, time his appearance needed.
What you
do, after receiving the summons of the Court of law.
In case of
Criminal Proceedings:
A criminal court summons
is non-negotiable, and you can face criminal charges, if you failed to appear
before the Court of law on the date as mentioned in the Summons, and also you
are bound to comply the direction issued by the court.
Hence, if you failed to
comply the direction of the Court after receiving the summons, then the judge
has the authority to issue a warrant for your arrest due to non-compliance of the
order, and further non-compliance of the direction of the Court, may declared
you as an absconder and an offender, and on further non-compliance may result
in issue a lookout notice against you. This allows a police official to arrest
you at any time or in any location.
In case of
Civil Proceedings:
As
per the Section 27 of the Civil Procedure Code, when a suit has been duly
instituted, then a summons may be issued to the Defendant by the Court to
appear and answer the claim, and may be served in manner prescribed, on such
day not beyond 30 days from the date of the institution of the suit.
Hence, if a petition is filed in the Court of law against you, and you failed to appear or comply with direction of the Court after receiving the summons issued by that Court, then the concerned Court may pass an Ex-parte Decree against you , after accepting the contents of the petition filed by the petitioner.
Conclusion:
When a Court summons
received by you upon filing a Civil petition, then you may appear personally or
can engage a lawyer to appear before the concerned court on your behalf, and to
file the reply of the petition filed against you.
But, in case of receiving a summons of any criminal case, your appearance before the concerned Court is personally required and if you are unable to appear on the fixed date as mentioned in the summons, then you may move an application for exemption from personal appearance in the concerned Court.
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