Punjab and Haryana High Court sets strict guidelines for proclaimed offenders, mandates state-level supervision

Tribune News Service

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, January 29

In a significant judgment that could reshape the way proclaimed offenders are dealt with, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a series of directives to the subordinate judiciary and police authorities in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh, including the establishment of State-level supervisory committees.

Headed by the Additional Directors-General of Police (Law and Order), the committees would monitor the cases of escapees declared proclaimed persons/offenders and issue necessary directions from time to time for bringing them to the process of justice.

The direction came after Justice Harpreet Singh Brar took note of judicial precedents and lackadaisical approach of the “jurisdictional police authorities, which allowed petitioner-accused to conceal himself from the process of law for about 15 years”.

The Bench also noted that just 553 persons were arrested out of 1096 declared proclaimed in five sub-divisions of Amritsar (rural) from 2008 till November 2023. Proceedings under Section 174-A of the IPC criminalizing the non-appearance of proclaimed offenders were initiated against 257 persons, while proceedings under Section 83 of the CrPC on attachment of an absconding person’s property were not initiated against even a single individual.

The Bench also ordered that the Senior Superintendents/Superintendent of Police of each district in the two States and the UT would forward action report on a quarterly basis to the ADGP (Law and Order). The investigating officers or station house officers were also instructed to obtain at least two identity documents from the accused at the time of arrest or shortly thereafter, such as aadhaar, passport and pan card.

The judgment also placed a responsibility on the magistrates and trial judges to ensure compliance by the police with the outlined guidelines. They were also tasked with supervising the proper issuance and service of summons, warrants, and proclamations.

The Bench made it clear that proceedings would no longer be closed upon declaring an accused a proclaimed offender. Instead, a series of steps, including tracing the individual, identifying properties, attaching assets, and regular reporting, were outlined. The court declaring a person proclaimed person/offender would also direct the police to file a status report on action taken. Such reports would be called for periodically. Non-compliance might result in prosecution under relevant provisions of the IPC.

The Bench added a proclaimed person/offender was required prosecuted under Section 174-A, if he did not surrender or was not traced within six months of being declared so. It was imperative to institute a formal written complaint in the competent jurisdictional court in case of proceedings under Section 174-A. “Where an accused has also violated condition(s) of bail bond by non-appearance in Court, the accused shall also be prosecuted under Section 229-A of the IPC,” the Bench concluded.

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