ORDER :

Would the penal provisions of the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001, apply to river sand found on a stationary vehicle? Petitioners have raised the aforesaid question for consideration in this petition filed under section 482 Cr.P.C.

2. Petitioners are the second and sixth accused in C.C.No.3318/2023 on the files of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Tirur. Prosecution alleges that the accused had, on 12.10.2023, removed and transported river sand without any document or permit on a vehicle bearing registration No.KL-08-AE-8245, which had not even paid the periodical tax and was operating without any valid insurance. The vehicle was found parked in the compound house of the third accused, situated next to the Thirunavaya pump house, adjacent to a Kadavu and thereby committed the offences under Section 379 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, apart from Sections 20 and 23 of the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001 (for short ‘the Sand Act’), Sections 192A(1) and 196 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and Section 15 of the Motor Vehicles Taxation Act.

3. Sri. P.M.Ziraj and A