Chandigarh, May 1 -- A criminal case can be registered against a person evading court notices only on the complaint of a jurisdictional magistrate, the Punjab and Haryana high court has held.

The high court bench of justice HS Brar quashed a criminal case for non-appearance before court, and order of declaring a person proclaimed offender by a Hisar court as it found procedural lapses in his case.

"While the scheme of criminal justice system necessitates curtailment of personal liberty to some extent, it is of the utmost importance that the same is done in line with the procedure established by law to maintain a healthy balance between personal liberty of the individual interests of the society in promoting law and order. Such procedure...