Once property is attached and the person doesn't show up, the government can sell it immediately.

The law requires a mandatory six-month wait and resolution of any claims before sale, unless the goods are perishable or the court finds an earlier sale benefits the owner.

If the person shows up late, they can never get their property back.

Section 88(3) allows up to two years for the person to prove they weren't evading justice and get the property or its proceeds returned.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 88

Release, sale and restoration of attached property

(1) If the proclaimed person appears within the time specified in the proclamation, the Court shall make an order releasing the property from the attachment.§

(2) If the proclaimed person does not appear within the time specified in the proclamation, the property under the attachment shall be at the disposal of the State Government; but it shall not be sold until the expiration of six months from the date of the attachment and until any claim preferred or objection made under section 87 has been disposed of under that section, unless it is subject to speedy and natural decay, or the Court considers that the sale would be for the benefit of the owner; in either of which cases the Court may cause it to be sold whenever it thinks fit.§

(3) If, within two years from the date of the attachment, any person whose property is or has been at the disposal of the State Government under sub-section (2), appears voluntarily or is apprehended and brought before the Court by whose order the property was attached, or the Court to which such Court is subordinate, and proves to the satisfaction of such Court that he did not abscond or conceal himself for the purpose of avoiding execution of the warrant, and that he had not such notice of the proclamation as to enable him to attend within the time specified therein, such property, or, if the same has been sold, the net proceeds of the sale, or, if part only thereof has been sold, the net proceeds of the sale and the residue of the property, shall, after satisfying therefrom all costs incurred in consequence of the attachment, be delivered to him.§

Why this exists

This provision continues a long-standing procedure (earlier found in the Code of Criminal Procedure) for dealing with 'proclaimed offenders' — people who abscond to avoid arrest. Attaching their property is meant to pressure them into appearing before the court, not to permanently punish them or unjustly enrich the State. The law therefore builds in safeguards: property is only released to the state's disposal after real non-appearance, sales are delayed to allow objections and give the person time to return, and there's a two-year window for genuine absentees (who weren't deliberately evading justice) to reclaim what's theirs.

Common misconceptions

Myth: Once property is attached and the person doesn't show up, the government can sell it immediately.
Fact: The law requires a mandatory six-month wait and resolution of any claims before sale, unless the goods are perishable or the court finds an earlier sale benefits the owner.
Myth: If the person shows up late, they can never get their property back.
Fact: Section 88(3) allows up to two years for the person to prove they weren't evading justice and get the property or its proceeds returned.