CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PROJECT

Topic: Explain the various steps to ensure the presence

of the accused at trial before the court.

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Sohnu Sir Daksh Mehra
B.COM L.LB.
5th Semester
15627

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INDEX:-

• Introduction
• Steps to ensure the presence of the Accused at
Trial before the Court
1. Summons
2. Warrant of arrest
3. Warrant in lieu of summons
4. Proclamation of the person absconding
5. Attachment of property
6. Bond of appearance

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Introduction:-
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Criminal Trial - the Procedure is governed by the CrPC, 1973, there
are three basic stages to it, which normally occur in the same order
viz. Investigation (where evidences are to be collected), Inquiry (A
judicial proceeding where judge ensures for himself before going on
trial, that there are reasonable grounds to believe the person to be
guilty) & TRIAL. The term 'Trial' has not been defined in the CrPC,
however is commonly understood to mean - a judicial proceeding
where evidences are allowed to be proved or disproved, and guilt of
a person is adjudged leading to a acquittal (an exoneration from
charge) or a conviction. Trials are normally divided into Warrants
Trial & a Summons Trial. We have taken warrants trial to be the
model here, as the same is employed in most offences (see
Theft/Rape/Murder/Kidnapping/Cheating etc.). A Summons trial is
an abridged form of warrants trial, where some proceedings are
omitted to ensure swift process but at the same time basic postulates
of fair trial are retained. Warrants trial is done for offences

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www.lawyersclubindia.com

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punishable with imprisonment exceeding 2 years, summons for
other minor offences.

Steps to ensure the presence of the Accused at Trial

before a Court2:-

There are six ways of process to compel a person to appear in court,

viz. (1) Summons; (2) Warrant; (3) Warrant in lieu of summons; (4)
Proclamation of an absconder; (5) Attachment of his property; and
(6) Bond, with or without sureties, to appear before a court on a
certain date.

(1) Summons:
It is a document issued from the office of a court of justice calling
upon the person to whom it is directed to attend before a judge or
officer of the court. Section 61 of the Code requires that every
summons issued by a court shall be in writing in duplicate signed
and sealed by the presiding officer of such court. It states in clear
terms the title of the court, the place at which and the day or time

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www.shareyouressays.com

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of the day when the attendance of the person summoned is
required.

The summons shall be served by a police officer or an officer of

the court issuing it or other public servant.3

The summons has to be served personally on the person,

summoned by delivering a duplicate copy of the summons, who
signs receipt therefore on the back of the other (duplicate).4

Service on a corporation:
Service of a summons on an incorporated company may be
affected by serving it on the secretary, local manager or other
principal officer of the corporation or by registered post letter
addressed to the chief officer of the corporation in India. (Section
63).

Where the person summoned not found:

Where the person summoned cannot be found, the summons may
be served by leaving one of the duplicates for him with some adult
member of his family residing with him, and the person with

3
Section 62 of Cr.P.C.
4
Section 62 of Cr.P.C.

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whom the summons is so left shall sign a receipt therefore on the
back of the other duplicate.5 A servant is not a member of the
family within the meaning of Section 6

If service in the manner mentioned above in Sections 62, 63 and

64 cannot be effected, the serving officer shall affix one of the
duplicates of the summons to some conspicuous part of the house
or homestead in which the person summoned ordinarily resides,
and thereupon the Court after making such inquiries as it thinks fit,
may either declare that the summons has been duly served or order
fresh service in such manner as it considers proper. This is called
substituted service.6

Service on Government servant:

If a Government servant has to be summoned, the summons shall
be sent by the court in duplicate to the head of the office in which
such person is employed, and such head shall thereupon cause the
summons to be served personally on the person summoned and

5
Section 64 of Cr.P.C.
6
Section 64 of Cr.P.C.

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shall return a duplicate copy to the court under his signature with
the endorsement of receipt effected thereon.7

Service of summons outside local limits:

Where a summons is to be served outside the local limits of
jurisdiction of the court issuing it, service has to be effected by
sending it in duplicate to the Magistrate within whose jurisdiction
the person summoned resides.

Service of summons on witness by post:

Notwithstanding anything contained in the preceding sections of
this chapter, a Court issuing a summons to a witness may in
addition to and simultaneously with the issue of such summons,
direct a copy of the summons to be served by registered post
addressed to the witness at the place where he ordinarily resides or
carries on business or personally works for gain. When an
acknowledgment purporting to be signed by the witness or an
endorsement purporting to be made by a postal employee that the
witness refused to take delivery of the summons has been received,

7
Section 66 of Cr.P.C.

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the Court issuing the summons may declare that the summons has
been duly served.8

(2) Warrant of Arrest:

The second method of securing attendance of a person is by means
of a warrant of arrest. The warrant is an order addressed to a
certain person directing him to arrest the accused and to produce
him before the court. It is executed by a Magistrate on good and
legal ground only. Section 70 of the Code gives the essentials of a
warrant of arrest. It lays down that every warrant of arrest issued
by a court shall be in writing, signed by the presiding officer of
such court, and shall bear the seal of the court.

From a reading of the above it is clear that in order to be valid a

warrant must fulfil the following requisites:

(i) It must be in writing;

(ii) It must be signed by the presiding officer;

8
Section 69 of Cr.P.C.

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(iii) It must bear the name and designation of the police officer or
other person who is to execute it;

(iv) It must give full particulars of the person to be arrested so as

to identify him clearly;

(v) It must specify the offences charged; and

(vi) It must be scaled.

Continuance of the warrant of arrest:

Every warrant shall remain in force until it is cancelled by the
court which issued it or until it is executed. A warrant of arrest
does not become invalid on the expiry of the date fixed for return
of the warrant.

Warrants are of two kinds: bailable and non-bailable. Section 71

deals with bailable warrant and lays down that a warrant may
contain a direction of the court that if the person to be arrested
executes a bond with sufficient sureties for his attendance before
the court at a specified time, the serving officer shall take such
security and release him from custody.

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Such a bailable warrant shall also state the number of sureties, the
amount of the bond and the time at which the arrested person is to
attend the court.

A warrant of arrest shall ordinarily be directed to one or more

police officers, but the court issuing such a warrant may, if its
immediate execution is necessary and no police officer is
immediately available, direct it to any other person or persons and
such person or persons shall execute the same.9

The Chief Judicial Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class may

direct a warrant to any person within his local jurisdiction for the
arrest of any escaped convict, offender or person accused of a non-
bailable offence, or a proclaimed offender evading arrest.10

The police officer or any other person executing a warrant has to

notify the substance thereof to the person to be arrested, and if so
required, to show him the warrant.11

The police officer or other person executing a warrant shall

(subject to the provisions of Section 71 to security) without
9
Section 72 of Cr.P.C.
10
Section 73 of Cr.P.C.
11
Section 75 of Cr.P.C.

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unnecessary delay bring the person arrested before the court before
which he is required by law to produce such person: provided that
such delay shall not in any case exceed 24 hours exclusive of the
time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the
Magistrate’s court.12

A warrant of arrest may be executed at any place in India.13

(3) Warrant in lieu of summons:

A court may issue a warrant in lieu of or in addition to a summons
for the appearance of any person in the following three cases:

(i) Where the court believes that the person summoned has
absconded or will not obey the summons;

(ii) Where although the summons is proved to have been served in

time, the person summoned without reasonable cause fails to
appear; and

(iii) On breach of a bond for appearance.

12
Section 76 of Cr.P.C.
13
Section 77 of Cr.P.C.

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A Magistrate ought not to issue a warrant either in lieu of or in
addition to summons in a summons case unless he has previously
recorded the reason for his so doing. (Sections, 87, 89).

(4) And (5) Proclamation for person absconding and

attachment:
The fourth and fifth processes of compelling the appearance of a
person before a court are by a proclamation and attachment. If a
court has reasons to believe that any person against whom a
warrant has been issued by it has absconded or is concealing
himself so that such warrant cannot be executed, such court may
publish a written proclamation requiring him to appear at a
specified place and time not less than thirty days from the date of
publishing such proclamation.

The proclamation shall be published: (i) by publicly reading in

some conspicuous place of the town or village in which such
person ordinarily resides, (ii) by affixing it 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; and
(iii) by affixing a copy thereof to some conspicuous part of the

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court-house. The court may also, if it thinks fit, direct a copy of the
proclamation to be published in daily newspaper circulating in the
place in which such person ordinarily resides.14

Before the issue of a proclamation the Magistrate should be

satisfied that the accused was absconding or concealing himself for
the purpose of avoiding the service of a warrant. The proclamation
also should direct appearance of the person concerned within thirty
days, and if the date fixed for the appearance is less than thirty
days, it is illegal.

The court issuing a proclamation may for reasons to be recorded in

writing at any time order the attachment of any property, movable
or immovable, or both, belonging to the proclaimed person. There
may even be a simultaneous order of attachment along with the
order of proclamation.

If the court is satisfied that the person in relation to whom the

proclamation is issued—(a) is about to dispose of the whole or any
part of his property or is about to remove the whole or any part of
his property from the local jurisdiction of the court. Since the

14
Section 85 of Cr.P.C.

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object of attachment is to enforce the appearance of the absconder,
the attachment usually accompanies the proclamation.15

Modes of attachment:
If the property ordered to be attached is a debt or other movable
property, the attachment may be made—(i) by seizure, or (ii) by
the appointment of a receiver; or (iii) by an order in writing
prohibiting the delivery of such property to the proclaimed person
or to anyone on his behalf; or (iv) by all or any two of such
methods, as the court thinks fit.

If the property ordered to be attached is immovable, the attachment

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
situated.

If the immovable property is not the land paying revenue to the

State Government, the attachment shall be: (i) by taking
possession; or (ii) by the appointment of a receiver; or (iii) by an
order in writing prohibiting the payment of rent or delivery of
property to the proclaimed person or to anyone on his behalf, or by

15
Section 83 of Cr.P.C.

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all or any two of such methods, as the court thinks fit. If the
property to be attached consists of livestock or is of a perishable
nature, the court may order its immediate sale.16

Objections to attachment by third person:

Any person other than the proclaimed person may prefer a claim or
make an objection to the attachment of property within six months
from the date of attachment on the ground that the claimant or
objector has an interest in the attached property and that such
interest is not liable to attachment.

Every such claim or objection shall be inquired into by the court in

which it is preferred and may be allowed or disallowed. If the
claim or objection is disallowed in whole or in part, the claimant or
objector may within a period of one year institute a suit to
establish his right in respect of the property in dispute, but subject
to the result of such suit, if any, the order of the court disallowing
the claim shall be conclusive.17

16
Section 83 of Cr.P.C
17
Section 84 of Cr.P.C.

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If the proclaimed person appears within the time specified in the
proclamation, the court shall make an order releasing the property
from attachment. If, however, he does not appear within such
specified time, the property under attachment shall be at the
disposal of the State Government and shall not be sold before six
months from the date of the attachment and until the disposal of
any claim or objection made by a person other than the proclaimed
offender.

But if the property is subject to speedy and natural decay or if the

court considers that the sale would be for the benefit of the owner,
the court may cause it to be sold whenever it thinks fit.18

Restoration of attached property:

If the proclaimed person appears within two years from the
date of the attachment and satisfies the court that he did not
abscond or conceal himself for the purpose of avoiding
execution of the warrant and that he had no notice of the
proclamation, the property or net proceeds of the sale after

18
Section 85 of Cr.P.C.

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deducting the cost of the attachment shall be delivered to
him.19

6. Bond of appearance:
The sixth method of securing attendance of a person in
court is to require him to execute a bond, with or without
sureties, for his appearance in court. When a 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, he may require such person to execute a bond,
with or without sureties for his appearance in such court.
When the person so bound by any bond to appear before a
court does not appear, the presiding officer may issue a
warrant directing that such person be arrested and produced
before him.20

19
Section 85 of Cr.P.C.
20
Section 88-89 of Cr.P.C.

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Webliography:-

1. www.wikipedia.com
2. www.lawoctopus.com
3. www.shareyouessays.com
4. www.lawtimesjournal.com

Bibliography:-

1. The Code Of Criminal Procedure

2. Kelkar's Lecture on Criminal Procedure,
6th Edition, 2017

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