1. The petitioners in all these Crl. M.C.s and the Crl. R.P. are the owners of mini lorries which had been seized by the 2nd respondent, Tahsildar, for allegedly transporting river sand illegally without any authority and in contravention of the provisions of the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001 ("the Sand Act" for short). In all these cases, the respective petitioners moved the Magistrate concerned under S. 457 Cr.P.C for interim custody of the vehicle. In Crl MC Nos. 543, 544 and 553 the Magistrate refused to entertain the applications refused to entertain the applications and returned those applications without even registering them. In Crl. M.C. No. 545/2008, even though the Magistrate registered the application as C.M.P. No. 343/2008, as per a separate order the application was returned holding that the Magistrate has no jurisdiction to entertain the application in the light of the decision of the Division Bench in P.K. Alavi & Ors. Vs. District Collector & Ors. In Crl. R.P. No.304/2008, the learned Magistrate dismissed the application which was registered as C.M.P. No. 238/2008 holding that there is no crime registered by