Punjab & Haryana High Court at Chandigarh | CRM-M-38628-2025 | Decided 12.09.2025 | Sumeet Goel, J. (Oral). Petition under Section 528 of BNSS, 2023 by Bhupinder Singh seeking quashing of the order dated 31.10.2023 (Annexure P-6) of the Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Amritsar in case CHI/1352/2019 (FIR No.0049 dated 07.05.2017, PS Kathu Nangal, District Amritsar Rural; IPC Sections 341, 324, 323, 506, 34, with 326 and 201 added later) declaring him a proclaimed person under Section 82 Cr.P.C., 1973, together with consequential proceedings, and of the further order dated 05.07.2025 (Annexure P-8) repeating the declaration. Held: (i) Section 82 mandatorily requires recording of the serving official's statement and a clear 30-day notice before declaring an accused a proclaimed person — the serving official reported effecting proclamation on 02.04.2023, yet the declaration followed on 31.10.2023 without ensured compliance, the whole process being a mere formality; (ii) the issuing Court must record satisfaction, on cogent material, that the accused is absconding or concealing himself — the JMIC's orders were conspicuously silent, striking at the root of the proceedings; (iii) no lawful attempt was made to serve the petitioner at his known overseas address, service being presumed solely on the serving official's report while the police service report and the conjunctive publication modes of Section 82(2) were ignored; (iv) following the coordinate-Bench guidelines in Sonu v. State of Haryana, 2021(1) RCR (Criminal) 319, such non-compliance cannot be cured as an irregularity, renders the proclamation defective, without jurisdiction and a nullity, and vitiates subsequent proceedings. Contextual facts: petitioner earlier placed in Column No. 2 of the Section 173 report (challan against two co-accused), summoned under Section 319 Cr.P.C. on 23.05.2022, and having since joined the investigation. Result: petition allowed; both proclamation orders and consequential proceedings quashed, recourse also had to Section 482 Cr.P.C. to terminate the criminal proceedings; pending applications disposed of.