Champa vs Rajender Kumar on 20 March, 2025
Before passing order of
substituted service by publication in the newspaper,
the Court must satisfy that there are reasons to
believe that the defendant was keeping out of the
9
( 2025:HHC:7541 )
way to evade service. If the order of substituted
service is passed mechanically by the Court, there is
likelihood of misuse of the process of the Court. So
far the order of substituted service by publication in
a newspaper is concerned, it should not be passed
lightly without ascertaining whether the
prerequisites of Order 5 Rule 20, C.P.C. are fulfilled
as it is a matter of common knowledge that
generally people do not read court notices in the
newspapers. The anxiety of the Courts to expedite
the proceedings in cases by hurrying up with the
service of the defendant by resorting to
extraordinary mode of substituted service, such as
publication in the newspaper, may defeat the very
purpose and result in gross injustice (See: Baljit
Singh Bhatia v. Kulwant Singh and others, 1978
PLR 287; Kuldip Singh v. Sharan Singh, 1989 (1) PLR
536: Sant Kaur v. Khazan Singh, 1989 CCC 449,
Smt. Ishro v. Sarmukh Singh, 1990 (1) PLR 324,
Harbhej Singh v. Diwan Singh and others, 1990 CCC
258, and Bijender Singh v. Ranbir Singh and others,
1990 (1) PLR 375."