Accused Absconds: Proclamation, Attachment and Trial in Absence — Section 82 CrPC vs Sections 84 and 356 BNSS

Under Indian law, when a court believes a person against whom it has issued a warrant has absconded, it can publish a proclamation requiring appearance under Section 84 BNSS (replacing Section 82 CrPC), attach the proclaimed person's property under Section 85 BNSS, and — for offences carrying ten years or more, life, or death — declare the person a proclaimed offender under Section 84(4) BNSS. A wholly new Section 356 BNSS now also lets the court try a proclaimed offender and pronounce judgment in their absence, a power Section 299 CrPC never granted.

The situation

A person named as an accused in a criminal matter cannot be located and is believed to be evading the court's process. Investigators or the court want to know what formal steps are available — publishing a proclamation, attaching the person's property, and, if the person continues to evade the court, whether the case can proceed to trial and judgment without them physically present.

Old law vs new law at a glance

What the law requires now, step by step

Step 1 — The court forms a belief that the accused has absconded

Section 84(1) BNSS opens in the same terms as Section 82(1) CrPC: if a court has reason to believe, whether or not evidence has been taken, that a person against whom it has issued a warrant "has absconded or is concealing himself so that such warrant cannot be executed," it may publish a written proclamation requiring appearance "at a specified place and at a specified time not less than thirty days from the date of publishing."

Step 2 — Publication of the proclamation

Section 84(2) BNSS reproduces Section 82(2) CrPC's three-part publication requirement: a public reading at a conspicuous place in the person's town or village, affixing to a conspicuous part of the person's house or the locality, and affixing a copy to the court-house, with optional newspaper publication.

Step 3 — Declaring a proclaimed offender: the threshold changed

Under Section 82(4) CrPC, a proclaimed-offender declaration was available only where the person was "accused of an offence punishable under section 302, 304, 364, 367, 382, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 402, 436, 449, 459 or 460" of the IPC — a closed, itemised list. Section 84(4) BNSS replaces that list with a punishment-based test:

"Where a proclamation published under sub-section (1) is in respect of a person accused of an offence which is made punishable with imprisonment of ten years or more, or imprisonment for life or with death under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 or under any other law for the time being in force, and such person fails to appear at the specified place and time required by the proclamation, the Court may, after making such inquiry as it thinks fit, pronounce him a proclaimed offender and make a declaration to that effect."

This is a structural shift from a named list of offences to a punishment-severity threshold that applies across the BNS and any other law, rather than being confined to specifically enumerated sections.

Step 4 — Attachment of property

Section 85 BNSS carries forward Section 83 CrPC's attachment mechanism without substantive change: the court that issued the proclamation may, for reasons recorded in writing, order attachment of the proclaimed person's movable or immovable property, with the same provisions for seizure, receiver appointment, and treatment of perishable or livestock property.

Step 5 — A new route for property held abroad

Section 86 BNSS introduces a mechanism absent from Sections 82-86 CrPC:

"The Court may, on the written request from a police officer not below the rank of the Superintendent of Police or Commissioner of Police, initiate the process of requesting assistance from a Court or an authority in the contracting State for identification, attachment and forfeiture of property belonging to a proclaimed person in accordance with the procedure provided in Chapter VIII."

This links the proclamation mechanism directly to the reciprocal-arrangements chapter for cross-border assistance in attachment and forfeiture of property.

Step 6 — Claims, restoration and appeal on attached property

Sections 87-89 BNSS reproduce, in order, what were Sections 84-86 CrPC: a six-month window to raise claims or objections against attachment, release of property if the person appears within the proclamation's specified time (or, if not, its placing at the disposal of the State Government, with sale barred until six months from attachment and disposal of any claim or objection, save for property subject to speedy and natural decay or where sale would benefit the owner), and a right of appeal against a refusal to restore attached property or its proceeds.

Step 7 — From recording evidence to trying the case: the new Section 356 power

Section 299(1) CrPC allowed a court, once satisfied an accused had absconded with no immediate prospect of arrest, to examine prosecution witnesses and record their depositions in the accused's absence — depositions that could later be used in evidence once the person was arrested. It went no further than that: the trial itself could not proceed to a verdict without the accused. That power has not been removed — Section 335 BNSS reproduces Section 299 CrPC in the same words.

Section 356 BNSS is a different and considerably wider power. Sub-section (1) states:

"when a person declared as a proclaimed offender... has absconded to evade trial and there is no immediate prospect of arresting him, it shall be deemed to operate as a waiver of the right of such person to be present and tried in person, and the Court shall, after recording reasons in writing, in the interest of justice, proceed with the trial in the like manner and with like effect as if he was present, under this Sanhita and pronounce the judgment."

This power is subject to a threshold condition — a proviso to sub-section (1) bars the court from commencing the trial "unless a period of ninety days has lapsed from the date of framing of the charge" — and to the procedural safeguards in sub-section (2): two consecutive arrest warrants at least thirty days apart, publication in a national or local daily newspaper circulating in the place of the person's last known address, giving thirty days to appear before the trial commences in absence, informing a relative or friend, and affixing information about the commencement of the trial at the person's house or homestead and displaying it in the police station of the district of the last known address. Sub-section (3) requires the court to provide a State-funded advocate if the proclaimed offender has none. Sub-section (6) states that, in prosecution for offences under the BNSS, voluntary absence after such a trial has commenced does not prevent it continuing, including pronouncement of judgment, "even if he is arrested and produced or appears at the conclusion of such trial".

What changed — and what did not

• Identical in substance: The proclamation procedure (Section 84 BNSS / Section 82(1)-(3) CrPC), the attachment mechanics (Section 85 BNSS / Section 83 CrPC), the claims-and-objections process (Section 87 BNSS / Section 84 CrPC), and the restoration-and-appeal chain (Sections 88-89 BNSS / Sections 85-86 CrPC) carry over largely unchanged, renumbered.
• Modified: The trigger for declaring someone a proclaimed offender moved from a fixed list of named IPC sections (Section 82(4) CrPC) to a general punishment-severity test — ten years or more, life imprisonment, or death — under Section 84(4) BNSS.
• New provision: Section 86 BNSS, linking the proclamation mechanism to cross-border identification and attachment of a proclaimed person's property through the Chapter VIII reciprocal-arrangements procedure, has no counterpart in Sections 82-86 CrPC.
• New provision: Section 356 BNSS's power to try a proclaimed offender in absentia and pronounce judgment — subject to the ninety-day wait, the notice and warrant safeguards, and the State-funded-advocate requirement — goes well beyond what Section 299 CrPC allowed, which was limited to recording evidence for future use.
• Retained unchanged: Section 299 CrPC's power to record prosecution evidence in an absconder's absence continues, in the same words, as Section 335 BNSS. Separately, Section 356(4) BNSS provides that depositions of prosecution witnesses already recorded by the Court "shall be given in evidence" against a proclaimed offender tried under Section 356.

Which law applies to your case

This guide does not restate the general transition rule. See Which Law Applies to an Offence Before 1 July 2024, read together with Section 531 BNSS, for the full position on proceedings that straddle the commencement date.

Practical checklist

For a person facing proclamation proceedings, or their family:

• Confirm whether the offence alleged carries ten years or more, life imprisonment, or death — this determines exposure to a proclaimed-offender declaration under Section 84(4) BNSS.
• If a proclamation has been published, note the place and time of appearance it specifies (not less than thirty days from publication) — Section 84(4) BNSS ties the proclaimed-offender declaration, and Section 88(1) BNSS ties release of attached property, to whether the person appears within that time.
• If property has been attached, check the claims-and-objections window (six months under Section 87 BNSS) if a third party has an interest in the attached property.
• If trial in absentia under Section 356 BNSS has commenced, know that a State-funded advocate must be provided if none has been engaged, and that appearing before the appellate court is a precondition to any appeal.

For the advocate:

• Verify the two consecutive thirty-day-apart arrest warrants, newspaper publication, and residence/police-station notice requirements in Section 356(2) BNSS have actually been complied with — the sub-section requires the Court to ensure that procedure has been followed before proceeding under Section 356(1).
• Track the ninety-day period from framing of charge; the proviso to Section 356(1) states that the Court "shall not commence the trial" until that period has lapsed.
• Where the client resurfaces after conviction under Section 356, note the three-year outer limit on appeals against conviction under Section 356(7), and that under the same sub-section no appeal lies unless the proclaimed offender presents himself before the Court of appeal.
• For attached property abroad, confirm whether the Section 86 BNSS request procedure through Chapter VIII has been invoked, since this did not exist under the CrPC's Sections 82-86 scheme.

Frequently asked questions

What is a proclaimed offender under Section 84 BNSS?

Section 84(4) BNSS states that where a person against whom a proclamation has been published under Section 84(1) fails to appear at the specified place and time, and the offence is one punishable with imprisonment of ten years or more, imprisonment for life, or death under the BNS or any other law, the Court may, after inquiry, pronounce that person a proclaimed offender. Under Section 82(4) CrPC, the same declaration was available only for offences listed by specific IPC section number, not by a general punishment threshold.

Can my property be attached if I am declared a proclaimed offender?

Yes. Section 85 BNSS allows the Court that issued the proclamation to order attachment of the proclaimed person's movable or immovable property, for reasons recorded in writing, carrying over Section 83 CrPC largely unchanged. Section 86 BNSS additionally allows the Court, on a senior police officer's written request, to seek identification and attachment of the proclaimed person's property in a foreign contracting State — a procedure with no direct counterpart in Sections 82-86 CrPC.

Can a court try me and deliver a judgment if I am absent because I am absconding?

Under Section 356 BNSS, yes, once specific conditions are met: the person must be a declared proclaimed offender who has absconded to evade trial with no immediate prospect of arrest, at least ninety days must have passed since the charge was framed, and the Court must have complied with the notice and warrant procedure in Section 356(2) before proceeding. This is new — Section 299 CrPC only allowed the Court to record prosecution evidence in the absconder's absence, not to try the case to judgment.

What could Section 299 CrPC do that Section 356 BNSS cannot, or vice versa?

Section 299 CrPC permitted only the recording of prosecution witness depositions in the absence of an absconding accused, for later use in evidence once the person was arrested — it did not authorise proceeding to trial and judgment in absentia. Section 356 BNSS goes further: after the specified procedural safeguards, it allows the Court to conduct the trial itself and pronounce judgment in the proclaimed offender's absence. The Section 299 CrPC evidence-recording power itself continues, in the same words, as Section 335 BNSS.

If I am tried and convicted in absentia under Section 356 BNSS, can I appeal?

Section 356(7) BNSS states that no appeal shall lie against a judgment under that section unless the proclaimed offender presents himself before the appellate Court, and that no appeal against conviction shall lie after the expiry of three years from the date of the judgment.

Which law governs if the proclamation process against me started before 1 July 2024?

This guide does not restate the general transition rule. See the dedicated article on which law applies to a matter that straddles the 1 July 2024 commencement date, read together with Section 531 BNSS.

Related on Veritect

• Which Law Applies to an Offence Before 1 July 2024
• In Jail Awaiting Trial? Maximum Detention — Section 436A CrPC vs Section 479 BNSS
• Police Want to Attach Property as Proceeds of Crime — Section 107 BNSS
• Settling a Criminal Case: Which Offences Can Be Compounded — CrPC 320 vs BNSS 359
• CrPC to BNSS: Complete Section Mapping
• Section 436A CrPC vs Section 479 BNSS — Maximum Period an Undertrial Prisoner Can Be Detained
• Section 82 CrPC vs Section 84 BNSS — Proclamation and Attachment (CrPC 82-86)
• Section 317 CrPC vs Section 355 BNSS — Inquiry and Trial in the Absence of the Accused

Statutory sources

• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 84-89, Section 335, Section 356 (read from BNSS_2023.md; verified against the Gazette text)
• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — Sections 82-86, Section 299 (read from CrPC_1973.md)

This guide explains the statutory text of the BNS, BNSS and BSA as enacted. It is not legal advice; for a specific case, consult an advocate.