Section 20 in Criminal Rules of Practice and Circular Orders, 1990
20. Cases in which some of the accused have absconded:
- When there are several accused persons in a case, and only some of them have appeared or been produced, before the Court, if the Magistrate is satisfied that the presence of other accused cannot be secured within a reasonable time, having due regard to the right of such of the accused as have appeared to have the case against them enquired into without delay, he shall proceed with the case as against such of the accused as have appeared and dispose it of according to law. As regards the accused who have not appeared, he shall give the case a new number and enter it in the Register of Cases received, and if it remains pending for a long time, and efforts to secure the presence of the accused have failed and the case against the accused who have appeared has been disposed of, the Magistrate shall report the whole matter as regards all the accused to the Sessions Judge, who may direct that the case against the absent accused be removed to the Register of Long Pending Cases, or if he is of the opinion that the case against the absent accused is wholly false, he may direct that the case be omitted from the Registers and the returns altogether, provided that he may at any subsequent time order the case to be entered in the Register of Long Pending Cases. Similarly the case may be split up against the accused who have been obstructing or persistently disturbing the proceedings of the Court.
