ORAL ORDER

1. Rule fixed forthwith. Learned APP waives service of Rule on behalf of the respondent–State.

2. Heard learned advocate Mr. N.P. Acharya for the applicant and learned APP Mr. K.M. Antani for the respondent–State.

3. By way of the present writ petition, the applicant has assailed the order dated 07.05.2026 passed below Exh.24 in Criminal Case No.17 of 2018 by the learned Principal Senior Civil Judge, Dhandhuka, Ahmedabad (Rural), whereby the application preferred under Section 84 of the Cr.P.C. came to be rejected on the ground that the same was barred by limitation, having not been filed within six months from the date of attachment, and also on merits.

4. Learned advocate for the applicant submitted that the Delhi High Court as well as the Punjab and Haryana High Court have consistently taken the view that, in the absence of a person being declared a proclaimed offender after following the procedure prescribed under the Cr.P.C., the consequential proceedings cannot be sustained. It is further submitted that only in respect of the offences enumerated under sub-clause (4) of Section 82 of the Cr.P.C. can a person be declared a proclaimed offender. Since an offence under