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CHAPTER 15
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ABSCONDERS AND
RECORD OF EVIDENCE IN THEIR ABSENCE
PART A -- MEASURES TO ENFORCE
APPEARANCE.
1. Attachment and sale of property.-- Sections 87 and 88 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure provide for the attachment and sale of the property of any accused person or
witness whose presence is required by a Criminal Court as a last remedy for compelling his
attendance. The procedure laid down must be strictly followed, otherwise the attachment
and subsequent sale will be liable to be set aside. The proper forms for the proclamation,
attachment, etc., to be used in such proceedings, are given in schedule V of the Code.
2. Proclamation.-- No proclamation can issue under section 87 unless a warrant
has issued in the first instance and the Court has reason to believe that the person
against whom it was issued has absconded or is concealing himself so that such warrant
cannot be executed. The proclamation must fix a date for the appearance of the person at a
specified place and that date must be not less than thirty days from the date of the
publication of the proclamation. The proclamation must be published in the manner
specified in sub-section (2) of section 87, and the Court should be careful to record the
statement as regards the due publication of the proclamation as required by sub-section
(3) of that section. The Court has the discretion to issue an order for attachment of
property simultaneously with the issue of a proclamation. Section 88 ***[...]
provides for the summary investigation of claims of objectors to the attachment by
Magistrates. The decision of the Magistrate can be challenged by a civil suit within a
year.
3. Consequences of non-appearance of proclaimed person; Sale of property.-- If
the proclaimed person does not appear within the time specified in the proclamation, the
property under attachment remains "at the disposal of Government". It can be
sold at once at the discretion of the Court when it is liable to speedy decay if the Court
considers that the sale would be for the benefit of the owner. But, otherwise, it cannot
be sold until the expiration of six months from the attachment and until the disposal of
claims of objectors (if any) by the Magistrate.
*
[4. Directions for sale. Only life interest can be sold in certain
cases.- In conducting sales, the interest of the absconding person in the attached
property which is to be sold should be clearly specified so as to avoid complications in
the future].
5. Property or its proceeds may be given to absconder if he appears before Court.-- If
the absconder appears or is apprehended and brought before the Court within two years from
the date of the attachment of his property and satisfies the Court (i) that he did not
abscond or conceal himself for the purpose of evading execution of the warrant and (ii)
that he had no such notice of the proclamation as could enable him to attend within the
specified time, he can get the property back or its net proceeds if it has been sold
(section 89).
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