New Delhi, July 26 - Worried by the 'alarming and sinister increase' in instances of convicts going untraceable when out on parole or when their sentence has been suspended and then filing appeal when declared proclaimed offender, the Delhi High Court has ruled that such appeals should not be entertained.

Passing the order, a division bench comprising of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ajit Bharioke said last week that convicts should not be allowed to 'abuse the process and defeat criminal justice'.

The bench said in its order: 'We reiterate that there is an alarming and sinister increase in instances where convicts have filed appeals apparently with a view to circumvent and escape undergoing the sentences awarded against them.

'The routine is to file an appeal, apply and be enlarged on bail and thereafter to become untraceable. It is the bounden and pious duty cast upon the Judge not merely to ensure that an innocent person is not punished but equally not to be a mute spectator or an instrument by which a convict escapes serving out his sentence.'

The court passed the order while dismissing a plea of Om Bahadur Gurung, who was given life imprisonment for committing murder and robbery by a lower court in 1996. He was released from jail on interim bail for one month in 1999.