SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, June 14: President Ramnath Kovind has given assent to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Jharkhand Amendment) Bill, 2020 passed by the Jharkhand Assembly on October 16 2020 paving the path for the courts to run trials against absconding accused and punish them in their absence.
Jharkhand happens to be the first state to amend this provision of the CrPC keeping in view the pendency of a large number of criminal cases in different courts on the grounds that the accused are absconding.
Under the existing provision, the court could examine the witnesses and record their depositions only so that the trial may be conducted on their basis when absconding persons are arrested.
The existing provision of Section 299 in the Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 says, “If it is proved that an accused person has absconded, and that there is no immediate prospect of arresting him, the Court competent to try or commit for trial] such person for the offence complained of may, in his absence, examine the witnesses (if any) produced on behalf of the prosecution, and record their depositions and any such deposition may, on the arrest of such person, be given in evidence against him on the inquiry into, or trial for, the offence with which he is charged, if the deponent is dead or incapable of giving evidence or cannot be found or his presence cannot be procured without an amount of- delay, expense or inconvenience which, under the circumstances of the case, would be unreasonable.
The then Principal Secretary to Governor Shailesh Kumar Singh, while forwarding the bill for the presidential assent, said that a large number of criminal cases are pending in different courts due to several reasons, one of them being the accused remaining absconding. “As a result the constitutional guarantee of speedy trial and delivery of justice as enshrined in Article 21 is being frustrated. Thus making appropriate state amendments in Section 299 of CrPC to ensure trial of a criminal case even if the accused is absconding would go a long way in solving the above-mentioned problems,” he said.
“Keeping this in view the Jharkhand Assembly passed the CrPC (Jharkhand Amendment) Bill 2020,” he added.
“Since the CrPC 1973 is a central act and the subject ‘Criminal Procedure, including all matters in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the amendment of this Constitution, is placed at the entry 2 of the Concurrent List of the Constitution, it is necessary to obtain the assent of the President,” he said.
Legal experts, however, said that the amendment may expedite the disposal of long-pending cases, but it is most likely to be misused and will end in miscarriage of justice. “It is no secret that police often take serving the summons casually and in several cases do not serve the summons at all and show in the record as having been served. This malpractice keeps several accused in the dark and they will be punished under the new amendment,” they pointed out.
There is another danger to it, particularly in a state like Jharkhand where a large number of poor people migrate for almost six to nine months to earn their livelihood. “It is most likely that such persons, accused in a case, will be easily declared an absconder and punished too in their absence. They will be devastated when they return to their home,” they pointed out.
