The Punjab & Haryana High Court has recently imposed a cost of US $10,000 on an accused, who fled to America so as to evade trial in a fraud case for the last 20 years.
A Single Bench of Justice Sandeep Moudgil passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Avtar Singh Pannu.
The jurisdiction of the Court has been invoked under Section 528 of BNSS, 2023 seeking quashing of order dated 09.07.2004, whereby the bail bond and surety bond of the petitioner was cancelled without issuing any notice to the petitioner and the order declaring petitioner as a proclaimed offender dated 25.01.2006 in FIR dated 10.02.2004, under Sections 419, 420, 468, 471 IPC and Section 12 of the Passport Act, 1967, registered at Police Station Rajasansi, District Amritsar.
Counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner was never aware of the proceedings in the FIR as he was in the USA and, therefore, no summons were ever issued or served to the petitioner.
He undertakes that the petitioner will surrender before the trial Court and shall join the trial proceedings without any delay or default in future.
The Court noted that the FIR in which the petitioner has been declared proclaimed offender dates back to 2004 in which the petitioner was arrested and was thereafter released on regular bail by order dated 10.02.2004 and thereafter he left for the USA, so, this fact that the case is pending against the petitioner was very much in the knowledge of the petitioner and he intentionally and deliberately has tried to evade the process of law for the last almost 20 years which is highly deprecated on his part but now keeping in view the fact that he is ready to come back to India and surrender, the Court granted him one opportunity to appear and surrender before the trial Court.
In view of the above, the Court directed the petitioner to surrender before the trial Court within a period of four weeks and apply for regular bail.
“There is no denial to the fact that due to petitioner’s act, delay has occurred in trial proceedings and has caused prejudice to the other side and to compensate the delay which is caused by the petitioner alone, he is directed to deposit costs of US $10,000 with the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Clerks Association and a receipt of the same be produced before the trial Court and only in that eventuality, application of the petitioner for seeking bail be considered and decided on the same day,” the order reads.
The Court disposed of the petition in the aforesaid terms.