● Modified in BNS
Failing to appear after a proclamation for an absconding person carries up to 3 years' imprisonment (or, if declared a proclaimed offender, up to 7 years and mandatory fine) under BNS Section 209, unchanged from IPC 174A, with community service now added as a sentencing option on the first tier.
Section 174A IPC (inserted in 2005) punished failing to appear at the place and time specified in a proclamation published under CrPC Section 82(1) with imprisonment up to 3 years, or fine, or both; where the person was further declared a proclaimed offender under CrPC Section 82(4), the punishment rose to imprisonment up to 7 years and mandatory fine.
BNS Section 209 reproduces both punishment tiers essentially unchanged, updating the cross-reference from CrPC Section 82 to the equivalent BNSS Section 84. The first tier now also offers community service as a sentencing option, alongside imprisonment, fine, or both -- an option that did not exist under the IPC.
Substantively unchanged apart from the CrPC-to-BNSS cross-reference update and the addition of community service as a new sentencing option on the first (non-proclaimed-offender) tier.
First tier: imprisonment up to 3 years, or fine, or both, or community service. Second tier (declared a proclaimed offender): imprisonment up to 7 years, and fine..
IPC 174A is non-bailable..
This is a cognizable. offence.
Non-compoundable..
Matters under IPC 174A are tried before the Magistrate of the First Class..
Common defences include a genuine inability to appear due to circumstances beyond the person's control, lack of actual knowledge of the proclamation, and irregularities in how the proclamation itself was issued or published.
Summaries are for general information and are not legal advice. For the authoritative bare-act text, see the official Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Indian Penal Code, 1860 (full amended text, as it stood before repeal) on India Code, or the Ministry of Home Affairs' new criminal laws page. ← All comparisons