Subpeona from usa court
Deepak Nair
(Querist) 02 May 2013
This query is : Resolved
Dear Sirs,
My clients are a dealer of motor cars. They sold a car to one customer A who paid certain amount by swiping his card.
Recently my clients got a subpoena from a USA lawyer stating that B is the wife of A and a marital dispute is going on between A and B in a USA court and asked for the details and documents related to the sale of said car to A by my clients. But my clients are reluctant to share the information of the customer as the said details are his personal information. Thus, my querry is as follows.
1. Is such subpoena enough to demand production of documents and details to a court out of India??
2. Is there any need of obtaining order from an indian court to demand such details??
3. What if the details are not provided my client??
4. What legal action can be taken against my client if details are not provided??
Point to note is that no court order has been annexed and they have sent 11 US dollars as charges towards providing the details along with an affidavit of authentic person.
Kindly provide me an appropriate answer.
Thanks.
Deepak Nair
DEFENSE ADVOCATE.-firmaction@g
(Expert) 02 May 2013
You can ask for court order case details but otherwise your options are limited unless you appear in the relevant court at US but Legal costs at US are heavy. You can make a point for costs but what is difference in ELEVEN dollars and say 110 dollars.
The concept of subpeona is US courts is--
A subpoena that commands a person to bring certain evidence, usually documents or papers, is called a Subpoena Duces Tecum, from the Latin "under penalty to bring with you." This type of subpoena is often used in a civil lawsuit where one party resists giving the other party documents through the discovery process. If a court is convinced that the document request is legitimate, it will order the production of documents using a subpoena duces tecum.
A party may resist a subpoena duces tecum by refusing to comply and requesting a court hearing. One of the most famous refusals of a subpoena was RICHARD M. NIXON's reluctance to turn over the tape recordings of his White House office conversations to the Watergate special prosecutor. Nixon fought the subpoena all the way to the Supreme Court in united states v. nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 94 S. Ct. 3090, 41 L. Ed. 2d 1039 (1974). The Court upheld the subpoena, leading Nixon to resign his office a short time later.
ajay sethi
(Expert) 02 May 2013
SERVICE OF SUBPOENA: 28 U.S.C. 1783, 28 U.S.C. 1784 and Rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C. Appendix provide for service of a subpoena upon a national or resident of the United States in a foreign country. There are no provisions for service upon non-U.S. nationals or residents. See 22 C.F.R. 92.86 - 92.89. Consult the Directorate of Overseas Citizens Services of the Department of State Bureau of consular affairs
ajay sethi
(Expert) 02 May 2013
in the Upaid v. Satyam litigation before the District Court of Texas, the Plaintiffs, Upaid, needed to record evidence from Indian based citizen/employees of Satyam. Usually in such cases, U.S. Courts issue ‘letters rogatory’, under the Hague Convention on ‘Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters’, requesting the Indian state to assist in the collection of evidence. Such letters rogatory can be enforced, in India, only by High Courts, as per the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. Upaid had considerable success in getting the Andhra Pradesh High Court to issue commission to examine indian witnesses
Guest
(Expert) 02 May 2013
Dear Deepak,
You have not stated whether your client is located in India or USA and also whether the transaction occured in India or USA.
Hope the subpoena is of usual nature (subpoena duces tecum) just to produce copies of documents by mail to the requesting party or directly to court, and not of the nature of "subpoena ad testificandum" as issued to a person to testify in person before the ordering authority.
Subpoenas is usually issued by the clerk of the court in the name of the judge presiding over the case. In addition, a lawyer by court rules may also be permitted to issue subpoenas himself in his capacity as officer of the court. Typically subpoenas is issued "in blank" and it is the responsibility of the lawyer representing the plaintiff or defendant on whose behalf the testimony is to be given to serve the subpoena on the witness. If a witness is reluctant to testify, then the personal service of subpoena is usually required with proof of service by non-party server.
Deepak Nair
(Querist) 02 May 2013
Dear Sirs,
Thank you for your valuable advise.
Dhingra Sir,
The dealer is in India and the transaction took place in india (Mumbai). Kindly provide some clarification on the issue of Indian court, i.e. is any order from a court in Mumbai is necessary??
And what if the documents called for is not provided??
Thanks.
Deepak.
Guest
(Expert) 02 May 2013
Dear Deepak,
My views are as under:
1) Since Indian citizens are not liable to abide by the US laws while in India, your client for his transaction in India cannot be compelled to comply with the subpoena order of any authority of the US lawyer/court, if received direct. It is the sole discretion of your client to oblige the US lawyer or not by parting with the needed documents/ details.
2) Your client is not supposed to take any order from an indian court on this context.
3) The US lawyer cannot do anything at his own if the details are not provided by your client. Only the US court can send letter of request, known as letter rogatory, to the concerned Indian court, if that court feels the need to get the details from your client. Without the intervention of the concerned Indian court your client cannot be compelled to part with any details.
4) No legal action can be taken against your client if details are not provided, unless the details are sought through the Indian court.
However, advise your client to return the amount of US $11 to the concerned lawyer with polite letter that if he or the court needs the requisite details, he may send letter rogatory through the High Court of Mumbai. I don't think he would be able to get letter rogatory of the concerned US court.
R.K Nanda
(Expert) 02 May 2013
no more to add.
Deepak Nair
(Querist) 03 May 2013
Thank you very much Dhingra Sir for the detailed reply. Thanks to all the learned experts. The replies have clarified my doubts.
Guest
(Expert) 03 May 2013
You are welcome.
Raj Kumar Makkad
(Expert) 06 May 2013
You have perfectly been advised by the experts.
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 06 May 2013
Agree with Mr.Sethi 'for There are no provisions for service upon non-U.S. nationals or residents' as well as with Dhingra Ji"for it is optional and not legally binding on your client".
Deepak Nair
(Querist) 07 May 2013
Thank you Prabhakar Sir, for your kind reply.
