This is a worry that generates far more anxiety than the legal reality warrants, so let me give you a calm, accurate answer. A summons from a Judicial Magistrate in Vadodara — from the CJM Court or any of the Magistrate courts in the Vadodara District Court complex — requires you to respond, but responding does not always mean appearing in person at every hearing.

Under Section 228 of the BNSS (formerly Section 205 CrPC), the Magistrate has the power, at the time of issuing summons, to dispense with your personal attendance and permit you to appear through your advocate. This is routinely exercised in summons-triable cases and in procedural hearings where your physical presence adds nothing to the court's substantive work. Your advocate files an application for exemption from personal attendance, undertaking on your behalf that you will appear personally whenever the court specifically requires — for instance, at the stage when your statement is to be recorded under Section 351 BNSS. Courts in Vadodara's magistrate courts grant these exemptions regularly in appropriate cases.

What you must absolutely not do is ignore the summons entirely or leave it unresponded to. Non-appearance without a filed exemption application — and without your counsel appearing on your behalf on the date — is what causes the Magistrate to issue a warrant. A non-bailable warrant converts a manageable situation into an urgent one that requires considerably more effort to resolve. The correct, professional response is: engage a lawyer immediately, have them appear on the first date, and simultaneously file the exemption application under Section 228 BNSS where the nature of the case warrants it. The Magistrate retains the power to require your personal presence at any stage even with an exemption in place, so remain available to attend when genuinely required. The criminal advocates at the Vadodara panel of Aapka Legal Advice can appear on your behalf at the Vadodara courts and file the necessary exemption application promptly.