A Criminal Court should not decide questions involving principles of civil law and should leave such matters to be resolved in a civil suit.

1. The scope of S.452 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which provides for the disposal of property by the Criminal Court at the conclusion of trial arises for consideration in these cases. After the acquittal of the accused, a third party applies to Court for the return of the money deposited in Court for the release of the property seized in the case from the accused on the ground that the money deposited was his and that the deposit was made by the accused on his behalf as the property belonged to him. The third party also wanted the release of the samples kept in Court to biro. The accused also applied for the return of the money and samples to them. The Court directed the parties to get their title to the property established by a competent Court. The question is whether the stand taken by Criminal Court requires any reconsideration.

2. The short facts of these cases, shorn of unnecessary details, are: In the early hours of the day 11-6-1976, 3 lorry loads of raw cashewnuts were seized one after the other at Mandapathinkadavu,12 K. Ms. inside the Kerala Tamilnadu border by the Special Officer for Cashew Industry, Quilon and his party. The lorries and the goods were produced before the Judicial Sub Divisional Magistrate's Court, Neyyattinkara on 12-6-1976 and as per orders of the Court the lorries with the goods were kept by the Neyyattinkara Police. Pending investigation of the cases by the Police, the drivers and cleaners of the lorries, the accused against whom cases were registered, filed three criminal miscellaneous petitions before the Sub Divisional Magistrate for releasing the lorries and the raw cashewnuts to them. The Sub Divisional Magistrate by separate orders passed in the 3 cases allowed those petitions on 13-7-1976. in the order it is stated:

"pending conclusion of the investigation and trial, if any, the raw cashewnuts in 110 bags weighing about 8640 Kgs. produced in this case will be released to the petitioners accused if they after five days and within ten days from this day furnish cash security of Rupees Twenty thousand (Rs. 20,000/-) only which will approximately be equivalent to the price of the said raw cashewnuts, for keeping the said amount under judicial deposit and also executing a bond undertaking to forfeit to the Government the said security amount in toto if the accused petitioners fail to produce so much quantity of raw cashewnuts before court as and when required sample nuts from each bag will be taken and kept separately in the respective bags and retained as material objects for the purpose of evidence."

As per the above orders, the accused made deposits of Rs. 20.000/- in all the cases and got the raw cashewnuts released. Under S.451 of the Criminal Procedure Code, whether the Sub Divisional Magistrate could thus release the raw cashewnuts on furnishing cash security is a different matter.

3. The Police completed the investigation and laid charge-sheets before the Sub Divisional Magistrate. In all the cases, the driver, the cleaner and the other person who accompanied the raw cashewnuts in the lorry were made accused. In one case, a person who was accompanying the lorry in a car was also included as an accused. The learned Sub Divisional Magistrate tried the cases and acquitted all the accused in all the cases. According to the Magistrate, it was not established that the raw cashewnuts seized were cashewnuts locally procured in Kerala. The Magistrate also held that as the lorries were intercepted at a place 12 K.Ms. within the border it could not be said that there was an actual movement or an attempt to move the raw cashewnuts from Kerala to Tamilnadu and hence no violation of Clause.3 of the Kerala Raw Cashewnuts (Control) Order, 1975 was made out. The Magistrate directed that the raw cashewnuts with gunny bags will be returned to the 1st accused driver from whom it was taken possession of and with whom it was entrusted on furnishing cash security of Rs. 20,000/-. As a ma