Section 82 CrPC: Proclamation for Person Absconding

Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 provided the procedure by which a Court could publish a proclamation requiring a person to appear when a warrant issued against that person could not be executed because the person had absconded or was concealing himself.

Meaning and purpose of Section 82 CrPC

A proclamation under Section 82 was a judicial process intended to compel appearance before the Court. It was not triggered merely because an accused was unavailable. The statutory condition was that a warrant had already been issued by the Court and the Court had reason to believe that the person had absconded or was concealing himself so that the warrant could not be executed.

Section 82(1): Written proclamation and minimum 30-day period

Where the statutory conditions were satisfied, the Court could issue a written proclamation requiring the person to appear at a specified place and at a specified time. The appearance date had to allow at least 30 days from the date on which the proclamation was published.

This 30-day requirement formed part of the statutory procedure. The period was linked to the date of publication, not merely to the date on which the Court signed or issued the proclamation.

Section 82(2): How the proclamation was required to be published

Section 82(2) prescribed mandatory modes of publication. The proclamation was required to be:

1. publicly read in a conspicuous place of the town or village where the person ordinarily resided;
2. affixed to a conspicuous part of the house or homestead where the person ordinarily resided, or to a conspicuous place in that town or village; and
3. affixed to a conspicuous part of the Court-house.

In addition, the Court could, if it considered it appropriate, direct publication of a copy in a daily newspaper circulating in the place where the person ordinarily resided. Newspaper publication was an additional mode expressly left to the Court's discretion under Section 82(2)(ii).

Section 82(3): Court's written statement as evidence of publication

Under Section 82(3), a written statement by the Court issuing the proclamation, stating that it was duly published on a specified day in the manner required by Section 82(2)(i), was conclusive evidence of compliance with those publication requirements and of publication on that day.

Section 82(4): When a person could be declared a proclaimed offender

Section 82(4), inserted by the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2005 with effect from 23 June 2006, dealt with specified serious offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Where a proclamation under Section 82(1) concerned a person accused of an offence punishable under IPC Sections 302, 304, 364, 367, 382, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 402, 436, 449, 459 or 460, and the person failed to appear as required, the Court could, after such inquiry as it thought fit, pronounce the person a proclaimed offender and make a declaration to that effect.

Section 82(5): Publication of proclaimed offender declaration

Section 82(5) applied the publication and evidentiary provisions contained in sub-sections (2) and (3) to a declaration made under sub-section (4). Thus, the statutory publication procedure also governed the declaration of a proclaimed offender.

Proclamation and proclaimed offender are not identical expressions

Section 82 distinguished between publication of a proclamation under sub-section (1) and a declaration as a proclaimed offender under sub-section (4). A proclamation could be issued when the requirements of Section 82(1) were met. A declaration as a proclaimed offender under the pre-BNSS CrPC required the additional conditions stated in Section 82(4), including the specified category of IPC offences and an inquiry by the Court after failure to appear.

Relationship with attachment under Section 83 CrPC

Section 83 CrPC separately empowered the Court issuing a proclamation under Section 82 to order attachment of movable or immovable property belonging to the proclaimed person, subject to the statutory conditions and reasons required by that section. Proclamation under Section 82 and attachment under Section 83 were therefore connected but distinct judicial processes.

Position after implementation of BNSS

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024. The corresponding provision dealing with proclamation for a person absconding is Section 84 BNSS. Its basic framework continues the warrant, reason-to-believe, publication and minimum 30-day requirements. For proceedings governed by the earlier Code, the applicable law must be considered together with the repeal and savings provisions and the facts and stage of the particular proceeding.

CrPC Amendment Act, 2005 - note on sub-sections (4) and (5)

Sub-sections (4) and (5) were inserted to empower the Court, in the circumstances specified by the provision, to declare a person a proclaimed offender when the person failed to appear at the place and time stated in a proclamation issued under Section 82(1), and to apply the prescribed publication requirements to that declaration.

Legal information: This page provides a general explanation of the statutory provision. Application of Section 82 to a particular proceeding depends on the order of the Court, the warrant, publication record, dates and other case-specific facts.