The Delhi High Court has observed that WhatsApp conversations cannot be read as evidence without there being a proper certificate as mandated under the Evidence Act, 1872.
Justice Subramonium Prasad reviewed a petition from Dell International Services India Private Limited, which challenged an order from the Delhi State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission. The Commission had upheld the District Commission’s decision to reject Dell’s written statement for being filed after the limitation period.
Adeel Firoz had lodged a complaint against Dell with the District Commission in 2022. Dell International submitted a screenshot of a conversation with Firoz, claiming it had not received the complete complaint and annexures, which were only provided to its counsel on January 31, 2023.
The District Commission determined that Dell’s request to condone the seven-day delay in submitting the written statement was not genuine. The court dismissed Dell’s plea, stating that WhatsApp conversation screenshots could not be considered in a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, as there was no evidence that the conversations were presented before the State Commission.
“Further, there is no discussion of the same in the Order of the State Commission. In any event, the Whatsapp conversations cannot be read as evidence without there being a proper certificate as mandated under the Evidence Act, 1872,” the court said.
It further added that Dell filed its Written Statement only on January 31 last year and raised a plea that it had not received a complete set of documents along with the summons when, in fact, a complete set of documents was served to it along with the summons. “In view of the above, this Court does not find any reason to hold that the reason given by the District Commission in refusing to condone the delay in filing the written submission is erroneous. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is dismissed,” the court said.
