India, July 30 -- The Supreme Court has rejected the Haryana government's application to be allowed to serve police summons electronically via WhatsApp, and reiterated its direction to the police to serve physical notices to individuals required for investigation.

"We are unable to convince ourselves that electronic communication is a valid mode of service of notice under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, since its conscious omission is a clear manifestation of the legislative intent," a bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh said.

The order was passed on July 16, but uploaded to the top court's website on Wednesday.

The state had approached the top court challenging the January 21 order pas...