CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, 1973

Power to take bond for appearance When any person for whose appearance or arrest, the officer presiding in any Court is empowered to issue a summons or warrant, is present in such Court, such officer may require such person to execute a bond, with or without sureties, for his appearance in such Court, or any other Court to which the case may be transferred for trial.

Issue of warrant in lieu of, or in addition to, summons A Court may, in any case in which it is empowered by this Code to issue a summons for the appearance of any person, issue, after recording its reasons in writing, warrant for his arrest— (a)   if, either before the issue of such summons, or after the issue of the same but before the time fixed for his appearance, the Court sees reason to believe that he has absconded or will not obey the summons; or (b)   if at such time he fails to appear and the summons is proved to have been duly served in time to admit of his appearing in accordance therewith and no reasonable excuse is offered for such failure.

Appeal from order rejecting application for restoration of attached property Any person referred to in sub-section (3) of section 85, who is aggrieved by any refusal to deliver property or the proceeds of the sale thereof may appeal to the Court to which appeals ordinarily lie from the sentences of the first-mentioned Court.  

Release, sale and restoration of attached property (1) If the proclaimed person appears within the time specified in the proclamation, the Court shall make an order releasing the property from the attachment. (2) If the proclaimed person does not appear within the time specified in the proclamation, the property under the attachment shall be at the disposal of the State Government; but it shall not be sold until the expiration of six months from the date of the attachment and until any claim preferred or objection made under section 84 has been disposed of under that section, unless it is subject to speedy and natural decay, or the Court considers that the sale would be for the benefit of the owner; in either of which cases the Court may cause it to be sold whenever it thinks fit. (3) If, within two years from the date of the attachment, any person whose property is or has been at the disposal of the State Government, under sub-section (2), appears voluntarily or is apprehended and brought before the Court by whose order the property was attached, or the Court to which such Court is subordinate and proves to the satisfaction of such Court that he did not abscond or conceal himself for the purpose of avoiding execution of the warrant, and that he had not such notice of the proclamation as to enable him to attend within the time specified therein, such property, or, if the same has been sold, the net proceeds of the sale, or, if part only thereof has been sold, the net proceeds of the sale and the residue of the property, shall, after satisfying therefrom all costs incurred in consequence of the attachment, be delivered to him

Claims and objections to attachment (1) If any claim is preferred to, or objection made to the attachment of, any property attached under section 83, within six months from the date of such attachment, by any person other than the proclaimed person, on the ground that the claimant or objector has an interest in such property, and that such interest is not liable to attachment under section 83, the claim or objection shall be inquired into, and may be allowed or disallowed in whole or in part : Provided that any claim preferred or objection made within the period allowed by this sub-section may, in the event of the death of the claimant or objector, be continued by his legal representative. (2) Claims or objections under sub-section (1) may be preferred or made in the Court by which the order of attachment is issued, or, if the claim or objection is in respect of property attached under an order endorsed under sub-section (2) of section 83, in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of the district in which the attachment is made. (3) Every such claim or objection shall be inquired into by the Court in which it is preferred or made : Provided that, if it is preferred or made in the Court of a Chief Judicial Magistrate, he may make it over for disposal to any Magistrate subordinate to him. (4) Any person whose claim or objection has been disallowed in whole or in part by an order under sub-section (1) may, within a period of one year from the date of such order, institute a suit to establish the right which he claims in respect of the property in dispute; but subject to the result of such suit, if any, the order shall be conclusive. COMMENTS Additional protection – This section corresponds to sub-sections (6A) to (6D) of section 88 in the old Code. It may be noted that warrants of attachment issued under section 83(2) should be endorsed by the District Magistrate (who is Executive Magistrate) of the district in which the property is situated ; but the claims or objections against such attachment should be disposed of by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of that district under sub-section (2). This is an additional protection given to aggrieved person; his right of suit for the property having been also preserved under sub-section (4).

Attachment of property of person abscondin (1) The Court issuing a proclamation under section 82 may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, at any time after the issue of the proclamation, order the attachment of any property, movable or immovable, or both, belonging to the proclaimed person : Provided that where at the time of the issue of the proclamation the Court is satisfied, by affidavit or otherwise, that the person in relation to whom the proclamation is to be issued,— (a)   is about to dispose of the whole or any part of his property, or (b)   is about to remove the whole or any part of his property from the local jurisdiction of the Court, it may order the attachment simultaneously with the issue of the proclamation. (2) Such order shall authorise the attachment of any property belonging to such person within the district in which it is made; and it shall authorise the attachment of any property belonging to such person without such district when endorsed by the District Magistrate within whose district such pro-perty is situate. (3) If the property ordered to be attached is a debt or other movable property, the attachment under this section shall be made— (a)   by seizure; or (b)   by the appointment of a receiver; or (c)   by an order in writing prohibiting the delivery of such property to the proclaimed person or to any one on his behalf; or (d)   by all or any two of such methods, as the Court thinks fit. (4) If the property ordered to be attached is immovable, the attachment under this section shall, in the case of land paying revenue to the State Government, be made through the Collector of the district in which the land is situate, and in all other cases— (a)   by taking possession; or (b)   by the appointment of a receiver; or (c)   by an order in writing prohibiting the payment of rent on delivery of property to the proclaimed person or to any one on his behalf; or (d)   by all or any two of such methods, as the Court thinks fit. (5) If the property ordered to be attached consists of livestock or is of a perishable nature, the Court may, if it thinks it expedient, order immediate sale thereof, and in such case the proceeds of the sale shall abide the order of the Court. (6) The powers, duties and liabilities of a receiver appointed under this section shall be the same as those of a receiver appointed under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908).

Proclamation for person absconding (1) If any Court has reason to believe (whether after taking evidence or not) that any person against whom a warrant has been issued by it has absconded or is concealing himself so that such warrant cannot be exe-cuted, such Court may publish a written proclamation requiring him to appear at a specified place and at a specified time not less than thirty days from the date of publishing such proclamation. (2) The proclamation shall be published as follows :— (i)   (a) it shall be publicly read in some conspicuous place of the town or village in which such person ordinarily resides; (b)   it shall be affixed to some conspicuous part of the house or homestead in which such person ordinarily resides or to some conspicuous place of such town or village; (c)   a copy thereof shall be affixed to some conspicuous part of the Court-house; (ii)   the Court may also, if it thinks fit, direct a copy of the proclamation to be published in a daily newspaper circulating in the place in which such person ordinarily resides. (3) A statement in writing by the Court issuing the proclamation to the effect that the proclamation was duly published on a specified day, in the manner specified in clause (i) of sub-section (2), shall be conclusive evidence that the requirements of this section have been complied with, and that the proclamation was published on such day. [(4) Where a proclamation published under sub-section (1) is in respect of a person 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 Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), 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. (5) The provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3) shall apply to a declaration made by the Court under sub-section (4) as they apply to the proclamation published under sub-section (1).]

Procedure by Magistrate before whom such person arrested is brought (1) The Executive Magistrate or District Superintendent of Police or Commissioner of Police shall, if the person arrested appears to be the person intended by the Court which issued the warrant, direct his removal in custody to such Court : Provided that, if the offence is bailable, and such person is ready and willing to give bail to the satisfaction of such Magistrate, District Superintendent or Commissioner, or a direction has been endorsed under section 71 on the warrant and such person is ready and willing to give the security required by such direction, the Magistrate, District Superintendent or Commissioner shall take such bail or security, as the case may be, and forward the bond, to the Court which issued the warrant : Provided further that if the offence is a non-bailable one, it shall be lawful for the Chief Judicial Magistrate (subject to the provisions of section 437), or the Sessions Judge, of the district in which the arrest is made on consideration of the information and the documents referred to in sub-section (2) of section 78, to release such person on bail. (2) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent a police officer from taking security under section 71. STATE AMENDMENTS UTTAR PRADESH ■   Section 81(1)     Insert the following third proviso to sub-section (1) :     “Provided also that where such person is not released on bail or where he fails to give such security as aforesaid, the Chief Judicial Magistrate in the case of a non-bailable offence or any Judicial Magistrate in the case of bailable offence may pass such orders as he thinks fit for his custody till such time as may be necessary for his removal to the court which issued the warrant.“-Vide Act No. 1 of 1984. COMMENTS JOINT COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT This section corresponds to section 86 of the old Code with the difference that the second proviso has been added to sub-section (1). The Joint Committee of Parliament has observed : “under the present provision where a warrant of arrest is sent to a place outside the local jurisdiction of a Magistrate, for execution, the arrested person has necessarily to be transported in custody to the Magistrate issuing the warrant before he can claim to be released on bail. The Committee feels that this results in considerable hardship and inconvenience to persons arrested far away from the court issuing the warrant of arrest. To remove such hardship and inconvenience, the Committee has amended these clauses conferring power on the Magistrate having jurisdiction over the place of arrest to release the person on bail subject to the other provisions of the Code relating to bail. To enable such Magistrate to consider whether bail should be granted, it has further been provided in clause 78 that the Magistrate issuing a warrant should also forward along with the warrant the substance of the information together with relevant documents.”

Procedure on arrest of person against whom warrant issued When a warrant of arrest is executed outside the district in which it was issued, the person arrested shall, unless the Court which issued the warrant is within thirty kilometres of the place of arrest or is nearer than the Executive Magistrate or District Superintendent of Police or Commissioner of Police within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the arrest was made, or unless security is taken under section 71, be taken before such Magistrate or District Superintendent or Commissioner.

Warrant directed to police officer for execution outside jurisdiction (1) When a warrant directed to a police officer is to be executed beyond the local jurisdiction of the Court issuing the same, he shall ordinarily take it for endorsement either to an Executive Magistrate or to a police officer not below the rank of an officer in charge of a police station, within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the warrant is to be executed. (2) Such Magistrate or police officer shall endorse his name thereon and such endorsement shall be sufficient authority to the police officer to whom the warrant is directed to execute the same, and the local police shall, if so required, assist such officer in executing such warrant. (3) Whenever there is reason to believe that the delay occasioned by obtaining the endorsement of the Magistrate or police officer within whose local jurisdiction the warrant is to be executed will prevent such execution, the police officer to whom it is directed may execute the same without such endorsement in any place beyond the local jurisdiction of the Court which issued it.