Absconding accused persons are the worst problem for
investigating agencies and courts alike. In case the accused person
is absconding from an ongoing trial, the law provides that such
person's trial may be separated, and the others be tried. But
this presents practical and legal problems, which are examined in
this essay.
I. Introduction
The Indian judicial system is one of the most robust amongst the
various judicial systems of the world. However, one of the key
challenges it faces is the inordinate delay in completion of
proceedings, and one of the factors responsible for such delay is
that the criminal proceeding (or, the trial) has to happen together
for all persons accused of having committed a crime. This is
because of procedural law based on principles of natural justice.
This problem becomes even more pronounced in cases involving
economic offences, where numerous persons are named as accused and
when some of such persons do not appear in the court (or
