1. Leave granted.

2. These appeals have been preferred at the instance of the first informant in Crime No. 318 of 2022. By the impugned order dated 09.08.2023, passed in Crl. O.P. Nos. 14029 & 14031 of 2023 and Crl. M.P. Nos. 8658 of 2023, the High Court of Madras has allowed the claim of the Respondents-accused for de-freezing of their bank accounts. The High Court has ordered for de-freezing on the specific ground that there was delay on part of the police in reporting the seizure to the jurisdictional Magistrate. The facts in the instant case, which we shall advert to later below, have given rise to following question of law:

What is the implication of non-reporting of the seizure forthwith to the jurisdictional Magistrate as provided under Section 102(3) Cr.P.C.?

More specifically:

Does delayed reporting of the seizure to the Magistrate vitiate the seizure order altogether?

That is the question which needs to be answered in these appeals.

3. Our research indicates that there is no authoritative pronouncement of this Court on this issue. If we turn to the pronouncements of the High Courts, there are decisions¹ [See Table at Annexure A for a compilation of the 36 decisions on this issu