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Prem Shankar Prasad v. The State of Bihar

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 658Decided 21 Oct 2021
Criminal Appeal No. 1209 of 2021
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice A.S. Bopanna

Background

The appellant had lodged a complaint against respondent No. 2 for cheating and criminal breach of trust over a large sum of money (allegedly related to a medicine supply business) involving a dishonoured cheque. After an arrest warrant was issued and the accused evaded it, triggering formal "proclaimed offender" proceedings under Sections 82-83 CrPC, the accused successfully obtained anticipatory bail from the Patna High Court, which treated the dispute as a mere business transaction. The complainant challenged the grant of anticipatory bail before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that once a person has been declared an absconder and proceedings under Section 82 CrPC (proclaimed offender) have been initiated against them, they are not ordinarily entitled to anticipatory bail, relying on its earlier rulings in State of MP v. Pradeep Sharma and Lavesh v. State (NCT of Delhi). It found the High Court had ignored this crucial fact and had wrongly granted bail merely by labelling the dispute a "business transaction," without properly weighing the serious cheating allegations and the subsequent chargesheet. The Court quashed the anticipatory bail, while giving the accused two weeks to surrender before seeking regular bail through the ordinary process.

Lesson Learnt

A person who deliberately evades arrest and gets formally declared a "proclaimed offender" generally forfeits the right to anticipatory bail, regardless of whether the underlying dispute also has a civil/business character.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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