{"id":367651,"date":"2026-07-17T16:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=367651"},"modified":"2026-07-17T16:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:15:14","slug":"trial-in-absentia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/trial-in-absentia\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial in Absentia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong>News: <\/strong>A Special NIA Court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Hafiz Saeed in the Pahalgam terror attack case. As he is unlikely to appear, the NIA is expected to seek a trial in absentia under Section 356 of the BNSS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\">About Trial in Absentia<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_367652\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-367652\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-367652\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iStock-1330033671-3.jpg?resize=300%2C169&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Trial in Absentia\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iStock-1330033671-3.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iStock-1330033671-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iStock-1330033671-3.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iStock-1330033671-3.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-367652\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: TH<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>trial in absentia<\/strong> is a <strong>criminal trial<\/strong> conducted <strong>without the accused being present in court.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Key legal provisions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS)<\/strong> allows a court <strong>to conduct such a trial if a person declared a proclaimed offender<\/strong> <strong>has absconded<\/strong> to avoid trial and there is <strong>no immediate possibility of arrest<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>After <strong>recording its reasons in writing, the court may continue with the inquiry, trial, and judgment<\/strong> as if the accused were present.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Under the earlier <strong>Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC)<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Section 82(4)<\/strong> allowed proclamation and attachment of the property of an absconding accused.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Section 317<\/strong> allowed a Judge or Magistrate to conduct proceedings without the accused in certain special situations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Section 299<\/strong> allowed evidence to be recorded in the absence of an absconding accused if there was no immediate chance of arrest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>These <strong>provisions gave courts limited discretion to proceed without the accused only<\/strong> when:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>the personal presence of the accused was not necessary in the interest of justice, or<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>the accused repeatedly disrupted court proceedings.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>However, the <strong>CrPC did not permit a full criminal trial in the absence of the accused<\/strong>. As a result, many trials remained pending for years until the accused was arrested.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Applicability:<\/strong> Trial in absentia is available <strong>only in cases involving serious offences punishable with imprisonment of at least 10 years, life imprisonment, or death, where the accused has been declared a proclaimed offender<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Procedural safeguards under Section 356:<\/strong> Section 356 includes <strong>several safeguards to ensure a fair trial before proceedings<\/strong> can begin in the absence of the accused. These include:\n<ul>\n<li>Two consecutive arrest warrants must be issued at least <strong>30 days apart<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>A notice must be <strong>published in a local or national newspaper,<\/strong> giving the accused <strong>30 days<\/strong> to appear before the court.<\/li>\n<li>The notice <strong>must also be displayed at the accused&#8217;s last known residence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>A<strong> relative or friend of the accused<\/strong> must be <strong>informed<\/strong> about the trial.<\/li>\n<li>The trial cannot begin until <strong>90 days after charges are framed<\/strong>, giving the accused sufficient time to appear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>If the <strong>accused does not have a lawyer, the court must appoint a defence lawyer at the State&#8217;s expense<\/strong> to protect the accused&#8217;s right to a fair trial.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Statements of prosecution witnesses recorded before the trial begins<\/strong> may be used as evidence against the absconding accused.\n<ul>\n<li>However,<strong> if the accused later appears or is arrested, the court may allow the witnesses to be cross-examined in the interest of justice.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>As far as possible, <strong>witness statements and examinations should be recorded through audiovisual electronic means.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>These <strong>recordings must be preserved to ensure transparency, accuracy, and the integrity of the trial,<\/strong> and to assist the court if the accused is later apprehended.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: A Special NIA Court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Hafiz Saeed in the Pahalgam terror attack case. As he is unlikely to appear, the NIA is expected to seek a trial in absentia under Section 356 of the BNSS. About Trial in Absentia A trial in absentia is a criminal trial conducted without&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/trial-in-absentia\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Trial in Absentia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,1760,12039],"tags":[11872,10498],"class_list":["post-367651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-polity-and-nation","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}