Munish Garg & Aditya Kundu
ABSTRACT
Section 82 of the code of criminal procedure talks about the proclamation for a person absconding. Abscond derives from the Latin term ‘abcondere’ which means ‘to hide away’. In the legal sense, an absconder is a person who tries to hide away from legal or other designated authorities.
No doubt CrPC provides for an elaborate procedure to declare a person as a proclaimed offender or person, ranging from sections 82-86 but these procedures are seldom followed in their true sense. Declaring a person as a proclaimed person/ offender is just another mechanical task for the police and the judicial set-up in a majority of cases. Several judgements of different High courts and the Supreme court have mentioned the statutory need of following the prescribed procedure as per section 82 CrPC. In Bishnudayal v. Emperor,3 the court has established that the terms of section 82 are mandatory and imperative, and a proclamation cannot be issued without first issuing the warrant of arrest. The Supreme court again upheld this reasoning in Devendra Singh Negi v. State of U.P4. In Kailash Chaudhary v. State of U.P. the court has also stated that the magistrate or session judge shall consider exercising their power for dismissal before they invoke their power under section 82.
Declaring a person as a proclaimed offender or person shall not be considered only as a mechanical task because it affects the basic right of a person i.e., the right to life as per article 21 the of Indian constitution.5 Proclamation not only seizes the valuables (either property etc) but also has negative implications during the due course of the trial. Apart from that Section, 174A IPC6 provides for punishment for Non-appearance in response to a proclamation under section 82 CrPC.
Keywords: Proclaimed person, accused, Section 82 CrPC, Section 174A IPC, Natural Justice, Fair Trial
