JUDGMENT :

1. Rule returnable forthwith. Learned advocate Mr. Jeet Y. Rajyaguru waives service of notice of rule for and on behalf of the respondent.

2. By way of this application, the applicant-State seeks to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 and supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution of India so also inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, praying for quashing of the order dated 19.09.2017 passed by learned 7th Additional Sessions Judge, Banaskantha at Palanpur below Exh.6 in Criminal Revision Application No.44 of 2017 and to confirm the order dated 11.08.2017 passed below Exh.1 in Muddamal Application No.65 of 2017 by the learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Amirgadh.

3. The facts giving rise to the present application may be summarized as under;

3.1 One Amratbhai Raghabhai, an Unarmed Head Constable, Buckle No.1667, serving at Amirgadh Police Station lodged a first information report stating that while he was on duty along with unarmed police constable Maksudkhan Usmankhan, Buckle No.981 and armed police constable Labjibhai Jeetabhai, Buckle No.350 at Amirgadh Boarder Police Check-Post, at that time, at around 3:30 hours, they were informed that by their superior that one Tata Truck bearing its registration No..RJ-09- GA-1972 carrying foreign made liquor would come from Abu Road (Rajasthan) towards Amirgadh. Therefore, as the raid had to be carried out, Panchas were also called for and, thereafter, started carrying out the checking of vehicles. Thereafter, as per the information, at around 4:00 O’clock, the vehicle under information, i.e,. Tata Truck bearing No.RJ-09-GA-1972 came from Abu Road which was intercepted by them, and asked the driver of the said truck to take the vehicle on the side of the road, whereupon, the driver took the vehicle on the side of the road and got off the vehicle, however, taking advantage of darkness, the driver fled away into the wilds. Therefore, the police chased him, however, could not catch him. Thereafter, the truck was being searched, whereupon, total 9648 bottles in 757 boxes were found lying in the said truck, which was being illegally transported without any valid permit. Thereafter, the police also seized the alleged Tata Truck. Accordingly, offence under Sections 65(a)(e), 116(2) and 98 of the Prohibition Act was registered.

4. Learned APP Mr. L.B. Dabhi appearing for the applicant- State of Gujarat submits that a complaint came to be registered by a public servant serving in the police department as an unarmed head constable being C.R. No.III-164 of 2017 for the offence punishable under Sections 65(a)(e), 116-B and 98 of the Prohibition Act alleging illegal transportation of the prohibited liquor by the accused person. It is alleged in the FIR that pursuant to the discreet information received by the police, a trap was made wherein one vehicle was intercepted by the police containing huge number of bottles of prohibited liquor which was then seized by the police. Learned APP Mr. Dabhi further submits that, therefore, the owner of the said vehicle filed an application under section 451 of Cr.P.c before the learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Amirgadh for interim release of the said vehicle by producing all the relevant materials regarding the ownership of the vehicle. After hearing both the parties and appreciating all the materials available on record, the learned Magistrate rejected the said application vide order dated 11.08.2017 by observing that there is a specific bar under Section 98(2) of the Gujarat Prohibition Act which provides that any muddamal article seized in connection with the prohibition offence, cannot be released on any kind of bond or surety till the final judgment of the court when the quantity of the seized liquor exceeds 10 liter. Admittedly, the prohibited liquor found from the vehicle in question was more than 10 liter and, therefore, the learned Magistrate