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Showing contexts for: proclamation crpc in Ram Pal Singh vs The State (Nct Of Delhi) on 13 March, 2015Matching Fragments
2. The circumstances giving rise to the appeal are that on 13.12.2008, at the instance of one Laurent Guiraud, General Manager, SOBO Hospitality Private Limited, FIR No. 112/08 was registered at police station Saket; and the accused was booked for commission of offence punishable under section 381 of the Indian Penal Code. Mr. Guiraud informed the police that on the night of 11.12.2008, a theft had taken place in the premises of SOBO Hospitality Private Limited, Criminal Appeal No. 4/15 Page no. 2 of 16 located at MGF Metropolitan Mall, Saket District, New Delhi; that the safe, make SAFE WELL Model, EQK 25, operated with a digital coded keyboard, and containing Rs.4,57,000/ was stolen from the cashier cabin located in the main kitchen of the restaurant; that the code to open the safe was 658; that on that night, four guards from Times Detective and Security Pvt. Ltd., located at 1, Vinobha Puri, Lajpat NagarII, New Delhi, appointed by him (Mr. Guiraud) to ensure the security of the premises, were on duty, and their names were Rampal s/o Gopi Singh, Dhananjai Singh s/o Ram Nandan Singh, Dheeraj s/o Tapeshwar Singh and Sandhu Kumar s/o Devkant; that duty time of the said four guards started from 8.00 pm to 8.00 am; that at the time of the theft, at the main entrance gate, next to the safe location, accused Rampal was the guard. Mr. Guiraud further informed the police that in the morning, it was found from guard Dhananjai that Rampal was missing from his duty around 5.00 to 5.30 am and according to the circumstances, he did not report to the company and therefore, there was suspicion that he was involved in the theft of safe containing Rs.4,57,000/. After registration of the FIR, during the investigation, efforts were made to arrest the accused, but he could not be arrested, so, on 03.9.2009, an application for issuance Criminal Appeal No. 4/15 Page no. 3 of 16 of nonbailable warrant was made by the investigating officer (IO) before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, which was allowed, and a warrant of arrest, returnable on 25.9.2009, was issued against the accused. The warrant could not be executed, therefore, on 29.9.2009, an application was made by the IO before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate to issue proclamation under section 82 of Cr.P.C. against the accused, and the said application was allowed and proclamation under section 82 of Cr.P.C. was issued against the accused returnable on 07.11.2009. The proclamation under section 82 of Cr.P.C. was executed on 05.10.2009 and returned to the court of the learned Metropolitan Magistrate on 07.11.2009. On 07.11.2009, despite publication of proclamation under section 82 of Cr.P.C., the accused did not appear before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, therefore, process under section 83 of Cr.P.C. was issued against him and his property was attached. Subsequently, on 28.6.2010, after examination of constable Ram Avtar, who published the proclamation against the accused, and report Ex. CW1/A, the learned Metropolitan Magistrate declared the accused as a proclaimed offender.
7. Aggrieved by the judgment and the order on sentence, the accused has preferred the present appeal. The trial court record has been called.
8. I have heard the accused in person and the Additional Public Prosecutor for the respondent/State and have gone through the trial court record carefully.
9. Having drawn my attention on the petition of appeal and the trial court record it is submitted by the accused that he had no Criminal Appeal No. 4/15 Page no. 6 of 16 knowledge about the proclamation under section 82 of Cr.P.C issued against him. It is further submitted by the accused that the proclamation under section 82 of Cr.P.c. was not duly published, therefore, at the strength of the said proclamation, he could not have been put on trial for the commission of offence punishable under section 174A of the Indian Penal Code. It is further submitted by the accused that the trial court has erred in convicting him for the commission of offence punishable under section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, and the judgment of conviction passed by the trial court is liable to be reversed, and he is entitled to be acquitted of offence punishable under section 174A of the Indian Penal Code. It is further submitted by the accused that the appeal be allowed.
17. Further subsection (2) of section 82 of Cr.P.C., which prescribes the manner in which the proclamation under subsection (1) of section 82 of Cr.P.C. is to be published, reads as follows:
(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. (emphasis added)
18. In the present case, the trial court record reveals that on 3.9.2009 a warrant of arrest was ordered to be issued against the Criminal Appeal No. 4/15 Page no. 12 of 16 accused, followed by issuance of proclamation under section sub section (1) of section 82 of Cr.P.C. on 29.9.2009 returnable on 7.11.2009. As per the record of the trial court, pursuant to order dated 29.9.2009 passed by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, on the same day, a process, purporting to be proclamation under subsection (1) of section 82 of Cr.P.C., returnable on 7.11.2009 was issued. The said proclamation in writing has not been tendered in evidence by the prosecution and no mark has been put on it. However, as the same is part of judicial record, its contents can be taken into account. The image of the proclamation dated 29.09.2009 is as follows: