S.82 CrPC| Proclamation Order Should Afford 30 Days For A Person Absconding To Appear Before The Court: Madhya Pradesh HC

Underscoring that there can be no confusion regarding the language of Section 82(1) CrPC, Madhya Pradesh High Court has set aside a proclamation order issued by a Magistrate that only granted less than twenty days before the absconding parties should mandatorily appear before it.

The single-judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Paliwal also added that the order passed by the Magistrate has an apparent error on the face of record since the 30-day period prescribed by the statute is absent in the said order.

While coming to the conclusion that there is prima facie a lack of consonance with the procedure prescribed in the statute, the bench sitting at Jabalpur noted that:

“…it is apparent on the face of record that the procedure provided in Section 82 of Cr.P.C. has not been duly followed. In such circumstances, this Court has no other option but to set aside the order passed by the learned JMFC”.

Section 82(1) of CrPC provides that when there is reason to believe that a person has absconded after a warrant has been issued against such person and the warrant has become non-executable, the court may publish a written proclamation mandating such person to appear at a specified place at a ‘specified time’. The Section also contains a further explanation for the ‘specified time’ which is ‘not less than thirty days from the date of publishing such proclamation’.

The High Court has also directed the Judicial First-Class Magistrate to pass another order complying with the law if the police were to file a fresh application for proclamation.

The petitioners who assailed the publication of the proclamation dated 07.08.2023 were accused of committing offences under Sections 34 and 306 of IPC. Earlier, the Magistrate had issued non-bailable warrants against the petitioners which were not executed by the police despite their best efforts. Thereafter, the police chose to file an application under Section 82 CrPC for Proclamation. The order dated 07.08.2023 gave a strict mandate that the accused should appear before the court on or before 25.08.2023 or else they would be declared as ‘proclaimed offenders’.

Before the High Court, the petitioners contended that there cannot be any deviation from the statutorily permissible outer limit of thirty days from the date of publication of the proclamation. The respondent state argued that the petitioners had been absconding since 05.07.2023 and they never intended to appear before the court in the first place. The respondent state tried to negate the arguments put forward by the petitioners by terming it as merely ‘technical’.

After hearing submissions from both sides, the order issued by Judicial Magistrate First Class, Bada Malhara, was set aside and the petition was disposed of accordingly.

Case Title: Sanjay Asati & Anr v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Anr.

Case No: Misc. Criminal Case No. 39110 of 2023

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (MP)

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