In short. If you missed dates in a Delhi criminal court and a non-bailable warrant, a proclamation or a property attachment has followed, the problem can usually be fixed, but only by appearing and explaining. The first step is normally an application in the trial court to cancel the warrant, made with your lawyer, often with you present. Where the proclamation was issued without following the law, or the trial court refuses, the Delhi High Court can set it aside or protect you so you can appear safely. Act within days, because each stage adds a fresh problem.
Is this your situation?
- You missed one or more dates in a Delhi criminal court and have learned that a non-bailable warrant has been issued.
- Police have come to your home with a warrant, or a neighbour tells you a court notice was pasted on your door.
- The court has declared you a proclaimed offender or proclaimed person and you heard about it only later.
- Your house, shop or bank account has been attached by court order because you did not appear.
- A fresh FIR has been registered against you for not appearing after the proclamation.
- You moved city or went abroad, your lawyer stopped appearing, and the case went on without you.
- You are an NRI who was stopped at the airport or told your passport cannot be renewed because of a warrant.
How a missed date grows into a proclamation
Criminal courts first try to secure attendance by summons, then by a bailable warrant, then by a non-bailable warrant. A non-bailable warrant (NBW) directs the police to arrest you and bring you before the court. If the police report that you cannot be found, the court can issue a proclamation under Section 84 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (old Section 82 CrPC), requiring you to appear at a specified place and time not less than 30 days later. If you still do not appear, the court can attach your property under Section 85 BNSS (old Section 83 CrPC) and declare you a proclaimed person, or, for offences punishable with ten years or more, life or death, a proclaimed offender.
Each stage brings consequences of its own. Not appearing after a proclamation is a separate offence under Section 209 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (old Section 174A IPC), punishable with up to three years, and up to seven years where you have been declared a proclaimed offender. Under Section 356 BNSS, a court can now in certain conditions try a proclaimed offender in his absence. A pending warrant or proclamation can also lead to a Look Out Circular, refusal of a passport and difficulty in getting anticipatory bail.
The good news is that most of this can be reversed if you act quickly and appear. Courts deal every day with people who missed dates because they moved, fell ill or were let down by a lawyer. What they do not accept is someone who knew about the case and stayed away deliberately, so the explanation you give matters.
How people end up here
In our experience, very few people who face a proclamation were actually trying to run away. The common stories are more ordinary. A summons went to an old address after the family moved from Laxmi Nagar to Noida. The lawyer engaged years ago stopped appearing without telling the client. A cheque bounce complaint was filed while the accused was working in the Gulf. A co-accused was served and the rest were not. A company director resigned and never heard about the complaint against the company.
Sometimes the problem lies with the process itself. Warrants are issued after a single non-appearance, or a proclamation is ordered on the same day as the warrant without giving the police time to execute it. The process server's report says the accused could not be found, without saying where he looked. These defects matter, because the law on proclamation is strict and a proclamation issued without following it can be set aside.
Before deciding what to do, get the order sheets from the first date to the latest, and read them. They tell you when you were summoned, at which address, what the process server reported, when the warrant was issued, and whether the proclamation and attachment followed the law. The order sheets decide the strategy.
The provisions that apply
Section 84, BNSS (old Section 82 CrPC): proclamation
A court that has reason to believe a person against whom a warrant was issued has absconded or is concealing himself so that the warrant cannot be executed may publish a written proclamation requiring him to appear within not less than 30 days. The proclamation must be read publicly in a conspicuous place of the town or village where he ordinarily resides, affixed to a conspicuous part of his house, and affixed to a conspicuous part of the court-house; it may also be published in a newspaper. After the date passes, the court may declare him a proclaimed person, or a proclaimed offender for offences punishable with ten years or more, life or death.
Sections 85 to 87, BNSS (old Sections 83 to 85 CrPC): attachment, claims and restoration
Section 85 allows attachment of the proclaimed person's movable or immovable property. Section 86 lets a third person who has an interest in the attached property object within six months. Section 87 allows the proclaimed person to seek restoration of the property, or its sale proceeds, if he appears within two years of the attachment and shows that he did not abscond or conceal himself and had no notice of the proclamation.
Section 209, BNS (old Section 174A IPC)
Failure to appear as required by a proclamation is an offence, punishable with imprisonment up to three years, or up to seven years where the person has been declared a proclaimed offender. A separate FIR or complaint is registered for it. Where the proclamation itself is set aside, the foundation for this charge is removed.
Section 356, BNSS: trial in absentia
A new provision allowing a court to try and pronounce judgment against a proclaimed offender who has absconded to evade trial, after steps including repeated warrants, newspaper publication and information to relatives, and with an advocate provided for the defence. It applies to proceedings under the BNSS and makes long absence far riskier than it used to be.
Inder Mohan Goswami v. State of Uttaranchal (2007) and Srikant Upadhyay v. State of Bihar (2024)
Inder Mohan Goswami said non-bailable warrants should not be issued casually where a summons or bailable warrant would secure attendance. Srikant Upadhyay held that a person who is absconding and against whom a proclamation has been issued is ordinarily not entitled to anticipatory bail, though courts retain discretion in exceptional cases.
Start in the trial court: an application to cancel the warrant
Where only an NBW is pending and no proclamation has been issued, the usual remedy is an application in the trial court to cancel the warrant. It explains why you could not appear, with documents: a medical certificate, proof of change of address, a letter showing you were abroad, or the history of the previous lawyer's non-appearance. You usually appear with your lawyer on the day the application is heard. The court may cancel the warrant on your furnishing a fresh bail bond, sometimes with costs, or it may take you into custody and require a regular bail application.
Whether you will be taken into custody depends on the offence, the length of absence, your explanation and the court. In summons cases and offences punishable with less than seven years, courts in Delhi often cancel the warrant on appearance with a fresh bond, following the Supreme Court's guidance in Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI (2022). In serious offences, or where the absence was long and unexplained, the court may want you to apply for bail. It is safest to file a bail application along with the cancellation application, so that if the court takes you into custody, bail can be argued the same day.
Where the case is at the summons stage and your appearance is needed only to furnish a bond, the court can accept a bond under Section 91 BNSS (old Section 88 CrPC). Our guide on how to cancel a non-bailable warrant in Delhi covers the trial court application in shorter form.
When to go to the Delhi High Court
The High Court comes in when the trial court route will not work or has failed. The common situations are: a proclamation or proclaimed offender order passed without following Section 84; a trial court refusing to cancel the warrant despite a good explanation; an attachment that covers property belonging to someone else; or a person abroad who wants to return but fears arrest at the airport before he can reach the trial court. The remedy is usually a petition under Section 528 BNSS (old Section 482 CrPC), or a revision against the order, with an application for interim protection.
The Delhi High Court often grants limited protection in such cases: a direction that the petitioner shall not be arrested on the warrant if he appears before the trial court on a fixed date, and that the trial court will consider his application on that date. That kind of order lets a person appear safely without first spending days in custody. The High Court may also set aside the proclaimed offender order outright where the procedural defects are clear.
Where the problem is the case itself rather than the warrant, the High Court can also be asked to stay or quash the proceedings. Our pages on a stay of summons or trial and on how to quash a false FIR in the Delhi High Court cover those routes. A revision against a specific order of the trial court is explained on our page on revision against summoning, charge or interim orders.
Defects that can get a proclamation set aside
- No real finding of absconding. The court must have reason to believe that the person has absconded or is concealing himself. A proclamation issued merely because a warrant came back unexecuted, without any recorded satisfaction, is open to challenge.
- Proclamation issued with the warrant. A proclamation presupposes that a warrant was issued and could not be executed. Issuing both on the same date, before the police have tried to execute the warrant, defeats the scheme of the law.
- Less than 30 days to appear. The proclamation must give at least 30 days from publication. Shorter periods, or a declaration made before the period expired, are defects.
- Not published as required. All three modes of publication are mandatory: reading in a conspicuous place where the person ordinarily resides, affixing on his house, and affixing at the court-house. A proclamation pasted at an address he left years ago, with the police aware of his new address, is a common flaw.
- No statement of the serving officer. The court should record the statement of the officer who published the proclamation, showing when and how it was done. A bare report is weaker.
- Wrong label. A person can be declared a proclaimed offender only for the more serious offences specified; for others the declaration is as a proclaimed person. A wrong label can matter for later consequences.
If your property has been attached
Attachment under Section 85 BNSS can cover a house, a shop, a car, bank accounts or other movable property. It is meant to compel appearance, not to punish, and the property is held, not confiscated, at first. Once you appear and the proclamation is cancelled or set aside, apply to the trial court for the attachment to be lifted. If two years have not yet passed and you can show you did not abscond and had no notice, Section 87 BNSS entitles you to apply for restoration of the property or its sale proceeds.
If the attached property belongs to someone else, such as a spouse, a parent, a company or a co-owner, that person can file a claim or objection under Section 86 BNSS within six months of the attachment. This is often overlooked. Families watch a jointly owned house or a business account being attached and wait for the accused to sort it out, missing the time limit for their own claim.
When Advocate B.K. Singh is instructed in an attachment case, he first separates what belongs to the accused from what belongs to others, and files objections for the others immediately. The accused's own remedy then follows, once he has appeared.
The separate FIR for not appearing
Many people are surprised to find that a fresh FIR or complaint has been registered against them under Section 209 BNS (old Section 174A IPC) after the proclamation date passed. That is a new case, with its own trial, even if the original complaint was a minor one or has since been settled.
Where the proclamation is set aside by the High Court or the trial court, courts have quashed such Section 209 cases, since the offence depends on a valid proclamation. Where the proclamation stands but you have since appeared and the original case has ended, you can ask the court to consider that in deciding what happens to the Section 209 case. It is wise to deal with the proclamation and the Section 209 case together, in the same strategy.
Which court hears it, and why
The trial court that issued the warrant or proclamation is always the first forum, because it controls the process and can cancel it. In Delhi, that will be a magistrate's or Sessions Court at Tis Hazari, Patiala House, Karkardooma, Rohini, Saket, Dwarka or Rouse Avenue, or a special court. The Delhi High Court has supervisory jurisdiction over all of them, wherever the accused now lives, so a person living in Mumbai, Bengaluru or Dubai who faces a warrant from a Delhi court comes to the Delhi High Court.
Where the warrant was issued by a court outside Delhi, such as a court in Gurugram or Ghaziabad, the High Court supervising that court is the right forum: Punjab and Haryana or Allahabad, as the case may be. The Delhi High Court will not interfere with another State's court process.
Where a Look Out Circular has been opened on the basis of the warrant or proclamation, the Delhi High Court can examine the LOC by writ if it was issued by an authority in Delhi. Our page on getting a Look Out Circular quashed or suspended explains that remedy.
Step by step: clearing a warrant or proclamation
Get the order sheets and the warrant or proclamation
Through a lawyer, inspect the trial court file or download the order sheets from the court's case status. Note the dates of summons, warrant and proclamation, the addresses used, and the process server's reports.
Decide on the forum
If only an NBW is pending and the offence is not serious, the trial court is usually enough. If a proclamation or attachment has been ordered with procedural defects, or you are abroad and fear arrest on arrival, consider the High Court first.
Prepare the explanation and documents
Gather proof of why you could not appear: medical records, change of address, employment abroad, letters to or from your old lawyer. Arrange two sureties and their documents in case the court asks for fresh bonds.
File the application, with bail if needed
In the trial court, file the application to cancel the warrant along with a bail application where custody is possible. In the High Court, file a Section 528 petition or revision with an application for interim protection.
Appear on the fixed date
Appear before the trial court with counsel, and with the High Court's order if you have one. Furnish the bail bond and surety as directed. Note the next date and make sure you or your counsel attend every date from now on.
Clear the consequences
Apply for release of attached property, for withdrawal of any Look Out Circular based on the warrant, and for passport clearance if needed. Deal with any Section 209 BNS case at the same time.
Time and cost at each stage
| Stage | Typical time | Court fee and expenses |
|---|---|---|
| Getting order sheets and file inspection | A few days | Nominal copying charges |
| Application to cancel NBW in the trial court | Often decided on the day of appearance | Small court fee on the application; check the current court fee |
| Fresh bail bond and surety verification | A day to a few days | Surety documents; no fee for the bond itself |
| High Court petition for protection or setting aside a proclamation | First hearing usually within one to two weeks of filing | Small fixed court fee; check the current court fee |
| Release of attached property | Weeks to a few months after appearance | Small court fee on the application |
| Withdrawal of LOC or passport clearance | Weeks to months, depending on the authority | Passport fees as applicable |
Papers to collect
From the court file
- All order sheets, especially those issuing warrants and the proclamation
- Copy of the NBW and the proclamation
- Process server's reports and the statement on publication
- Attachment order and inventory of attached property
- FIR or complaint under Section 209 BNS, if registered
Your explanation
- Proof of current and past addresses with dates (rent agreement, utility bills)
- Medical certificates for the period of absence
- Passport pages and employment letters if you were abroad
- Correspondence with your earlier lawyer
- Ownership papers of attached property, and papers of any co-owner
For bail and surety
- Your ID and address proof
- Two sureties' ID, address proof and documents showing their means (property papers, vehicle RC, or fixed deposit, as the court asks)
- Photographs as required by the court
Anticipatory bail when a warrant or proclamation is pending
People often ask whether they can get anticipatory bail before appearing. With an NBW pending in a case where you were never served, anticipatory bail may still be considered, depending on the facts. With a proclamation issued, the Supreme Court in Srikant Upadhyay v. State of Bihar (2024) reaffirmed that a person who has absconded and against whom a proclamation has been issued is ordinarily not entitled to anticipatory bail, following earlier decisions such as Lavesh v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2012). Courts keep a discretion for exceptional cases, such as where the proclamation itself is legally defective or the person had no notice.
In practice, the better course with a proclamation is usually to challenge it or seek protection to appear, rather than to apply for anticipatory bail and be told that absconders do not qualify. Our page on anticipatory bail in the Delhi High Court explains when that remedy fits.
Advocate B.K. Singh's first question in these cases is whether the client knew about the case before the proclamation. A person who never received summons stands on very different ground from one who attended a few dates and then stopped. The answer shapes everything that follows.
If you are abroad
An NRI facing a warrant or proclamation from a Delhi court is often the person most at risk, because the problem surfaces at the worst moment: at the immigration counter at IGI airport, at a passport renewal at an Indian mission, or when a relative's property is attached. A Look Out Circular based on a proclamation can lead to detention on arrival.
The usual plan is to file in the Delhi High Court from abroad, with an affidavit sworn before a notary and apostilled or before an Indian consular officer, seeking protection from arrest on arrival so that you can appear before the trial court on a fixed date. Once you have that order, travel, appear, and clear the warrant and the proclamation in the trial court. Our page for NRI and overseas clients explains how we work with clients abroad, and our guide on whether an NRI can get anticipatory bail from abroad covers the related question.
Many of these warrants arise from cheque bounce complaints filed after the accused moved overseas. Where that is the background, our network's detailed site on cheque bounce cases covers the trial-stage options, including settlement.
Mistakes that make it worse
- Waiting for the case to go away. It does not. With trial in absentia now possible under Section 356 BNSS, a long absence can end in a conviction you never defended.
- Turning up without a lawyer or papers. Appearing alone without an application, an explanation or a bail application risks being taken into custody with nothing ready.
- Giving an explanation you cannot prove. If you say you were ill, bring the medical records. If you say you moved, bring the rent agreement. Courts check.
- Ignoring the attachment. Co-owners and family members have only six months to object to attachment of their share. Act for them separately and quickly.
- Forgetting the Section 209 case. Clearing the original warrant does not close the separate case for non-appearance. Plan for both.
- Missing the next date. After a warrant is cancelled, any further absence will be treated far more harshly. Ask the court for exemption in advance if you cannot attend.
A made-up example: a trader who moved to Pune
Here's a made-up example. Vikas, who ran a garments shop in Gandhi Nagar, was named in a cheating complaint before a magistrate at Karkardooma over an unpaid supply. He attended the first two dates, then moved to Pune for work. His lawyer stopped appearing without telling him. The court issued a bailable warrant, then an NBW to his old Delhi address, and three months later a proclamation, which was pasted on the door of the shop he had already vacated. He was declared a proclaimed person, and an FIR under Section 209 BNS followed.
Vikas learns of it when the police visit his elderly mother. His new lawyers obtain the order sheets and find that the proclamation was ordered on the same day the NBW came back unexecuted, with no finding that he was concealing himself, and that it was published only at the vacated shop although the complainant knew his Pune address. They file a Section 528 petition in the Delhi High Court seeking to set aside the proclamation and for protection to appear.
In this made-up case, the High Court directs that Vikas shall not be arrested if he appears before the trial court on a fixed date, and lists the challenge to the proclamation for hearing. Vikas appears with two sureties, the trial court cancels the warrant on a fresh bond, and his challenge to the proclamation and the Section 209 case proceeds. Another court on other facts could take a different view; what helped was appearing quickly with documents that explained the absence.
For complainants: when the accused will not appear
If you are the complainant and the accused keeps missing dates, you can ask the court to issue warrants, then a proclamation, and then attachment of property. Give the court and the police every address you know, including work addresses and addresses outside Delhi, because a warrant sent to a vacated flat will not work and a proclamation published there may later be set aside. Once a proclamation is issued, the case can proceed against co-accused who are present, and in proceedings under the BNSS the court can consider trial in absentia.
Expect the accused to come back with an explanation at some point. If he attended dates and then stopped, put the order sheets before the court to show he knew of the case. If he has property, attachment is often the step that brings him to court.
What to do this week
Get the order sheets and find out exactly what is pending: a warrant, a proclamation, an attachment, a Section 209 case, or all of them. Gather documents explaining your absence and arrange two sureties. Our guide on what happens when you are declared a proclaimed offender sets out the consequences in shorter form.
Decide with your lawyer whether to go straight to the trial court or first to the High Court for protection. If you are abroad, do not book a flight until you know whether a Look Out Circular exists and you have an order protecting you on arrival.
For advice on your warrant or proclamation papers, or for updates on how Delhi courts are dealing with these applications, contact Advocate B.K. Singh.
Frequently asked questions
How do I cancel a non-bailable warrant issued by a Delhi court?
File an application to cancel the warrant in the same trial court, explaining why you missed the date, and appear with your lawyer. The court may cancel it on a fresh bail bond or require a bail application. File a bail application with it in case the court takes you into custody.
Will I be arrested if I go to court to cancel the NBW?
It depends on the offence, how long you were absent and your explanation. In minor cases courts often cancel the warrant on appearance with a fresh bond. Where arrest is a real risk, the Delhi High Court can be asked for protection to appear on a fixed date.
What is the difference between a proclaimed person and a proclaimed offender?
Both are declared after a proclamation under Section 84 BNSS is not obeyed. A proclaimed offender is someone accused of an offence punishable with ten years or more, life or death; for other offences the person is a proclaimed person. The penalty for non-appearance under Section 209 BNS is higher for a proclaimed offender.
Can a proclaimed offender order be cancelled?
Yes. The trial court can cancel it when you appear with a good explanation, and the High Court can set it aside if the procedure in Section 84 BNSS was not followed. Common defects are lack of publication at your actual address and no finding that you were concealing yourself.
How do I get my attached property back?
After appearing, apply to the trial court to lift the attachment. Under Section 87 BNSS you can seek restoration within two years if you show you did not abscond and had no notice. Other owners of the property can object within six months under Section 86 BNSS.
Can I get anticipatory bail after being declared a proclaimed offender?
Ordinarily not. The Supreme Court in Srikant Upadhyay (2024) reaffirmed that absconders against whom a proclamation is issued are generally not entitled to it, except in exceptional cases. Challenging the proclamation or seeking protection to appear is usually the better route.
Can the trial go on without me after I am declared a proclaimed offender?
In proceedings under the BNSS, Section 356 allows a trial in absentia of a proclaimed offender after certain steps are taken. The case can also proceed against co-accused who appear. Staying away is now riskier than before.
I am abroad and a Delhi court issued a warrant. What should I do?
Do not travel until you know whether a Look Out Circular exists. File a petition in the Delhi High Court from abroad seeking protection on arrival so you can appear before the trial court. Then appear and clear the warrant there.