Under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the court has the power to issue a proclamation in respect of a person who has absconded. Section 83 of the Cr.P.C. contains provisions for attachment of property of an absconding in respect of whom a proclamation has been issued under Section 82.
The question is what is the meaning of the word “abscond”? When can a person be said to have absconded? Is it only when a person has run away from his home?
In this regard, in the case of Kartarey v. State of U.P., (1976) 1 SCC 172, the Supreme Court held that to be an “absconder” in the eye of law, it is not necessary that a person should have run away from his home, it is sufficient if he hides himself to evade the process of law, even if the hiding place be his own home.
Therefore, the primary meaning of the word ‘abscond’ is to hide from the process of law and when in order to evade the process of law a person is hiding from his place of residence (or even if he is hiding in his own residence to evade the process of law), he is said to ‘abscond’.
