The Delhi High Court has affirmed that WhatsApp conversations cannot be considered admissible evidence without a proper certificate as mandated under the Evidence Act of 1872. The observation was made by Justice Subramonium Prasad while addressing a plea from Dell International Services India Private Limited.

Dell’s plea challenged an order from the Delhi State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, which had upheld a District Commission’s decision to reject Dell’s written statement. The statement was dismissed on the grounds of being filed post admissible period.

The case originated from a complaint lodged by Adeel Firoz against Dell in 2022. Dell had submitted a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation between its representatives and Firoz, claiming it demonstrated that the complete complaint and annexures were not received by them.

Upholding this decision, Justice Prasad emphasised that the WhatsApp screenshot could not be considered valid evidence in a writ petition, saying, “In any event, the Whatsapp conversations cannot be read as evidence without there being a proper certificate as mandated under the Evidence Act, 1872.”

A complaint was filed against Dell by one Adeel Firoz before the District Commission in 2022. Dell International had filed a screenshot of a conversation between it and Firoz to demonstrate that the entire copy of the complaint along with all the annexures was not received by it and it was only handed over to its counsel before the District Commission on January 31, 2023. While rejecting the plea, the Court said very clearly that, “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.”