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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
Anoop Chitkara, J.
Darshana Kumari @ Darshna Bhatti - Appellant
Versus
State of Punjab & Anr. - Respondents
Criminal Miscellaneous Petition (M) No. 3027 of 2018
Decided On : 22-12-2022
Section 482 - Quashing of FIR - Proclaimed Offender - Opportunity under Section 82 of CrPC
Fact of the Case:
The accused sought quashing of an FIR and a proclamation order as he was declared a proclaimed offender under section 82 of CrPC. The accused was not served through ordinary processes and was declared a proclaimed offender in his absence.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the accused was not aware of the proceedings against him as he was away from India, and the order declaring him a proclaimed offender was arbitrary and did not afford him a reasonable opportunity as mandated under Section 82 of CrPC. The impugned order was set aside, and the non-bailable warrants were not to be enforced, subject to the accused attending the trial regularly without any lapse.
Issues: The issues revolved around the accused's awareness of the proceedings, the validity of the order declaring him a proclaimed offender, and the enforcement of non-bailable warrants.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was influenced by the lack of knowledge of the accused about the proceedings, the arbitrary nature of the order declaring him a proclaimed offender, and the requirement for a reasonable opportunity under Section 82 of CrPC.
Final Decision: The petition was allowed, and the impugned order was set aside. The non-bailable warrants were not to be enforced, subject to the accused attending the trial regularly without any lapse.
JUDGMENT
Anoop Chitkara, J. -
| FIR No. | Dated | Police Station | Sections |
| 14 | 31.12.2014 | NRI, Amritsar, Distt. Amritsar | 380 IPC |
Seeking quashing of aforesaid FIR as well as proclamation order Annexure P-7, the accused has come up before this court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC).
1. The accused could not be served through the ordinary process, including summons, bailable warrants, and even non-bailable warrants. The concerned court finally proceeded against the petitioner under section 82 of CrPC and declared the petitioner a proclaimed offender vide order dated 07.11.2015.
2. Counsel for the petitioner has placed on record the copy of immigration slips which reveals that the petitioner-Darshana Kumari @ Darshna Bhatti had arrived in India on 02.03.2018.
3. A reference to the impugned order Annexure P-7 reveals that there is no reference to the fact that the petitioner was away from India. Given above, there was no knowledge to the petitioner about appearance as contemplated under section 82 CrPC. Thus, the order is arbitrary and did not afford reasonable opportunity as mandated under Section 82 of CrPC.
4. Given above, the impugned order dated 07.11.2015, passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Amritsar, is set aside. Consequently, the non-bailable warrants issued against the petitioner in the FIR captioned above, shall not be enforced. However, this order is subject to the petitioner's attending the trial regularly without any lapse or a single default. It is further clarified that this order shall not be construed as a bail order or a blanket stay in the trial. It has nothing to do with the present quashing petition for proclamation.
5. Liberty rserved to file an application for quashing of the FIR. It is clarified that this liberty shall not be construed to be order of bail in favour of the petitioner.
Petition allowed in the terms mentioned above. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
The central legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for a reasonable opportunity under Section 82 of CrPC before declaring a person a proclaimed offender.
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