Confiscation of a vehicle under the Indian Forest Act requires evidence of its involvement in illicit transportation of forest produce.

JUDGMENT :

Chander Bhusan Barowalia, J.

The present petition is maintained by the petitioner under Section 482 Cr.P.C. against order dated 11.03.2019, passed by learned Authorized Officer-cum-Divisional Forest Officer, Nalagarh, and against order dated 22.07.2019 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Nalagarh, District Solan, H.P. in Criminal Revision No. 54-NL/10 of 2019.

2. The facts giving rise to the present petition can be summarized as under:

As per the petitioner, on 11.09.2017, Shri Gurdev Singh, the then Forest Guard, Incharge, Dharampur Beat, Dharampur Block of Baddi Range alongwith Shri Bhagat Ram, Forest Worker, came to know about illicit felling of 13 khair trees in Retwali DPF C-1e along the roadside of Chhalondewali road. Ten logs were taken into possession, as rest of the timber was missing from the spot. The matter was reported to the police by the Forest officials, vide letter No. 227/B, dated 12.09.2017, and SHO, Police Station Barotiwala registered FIR No. 113/2017, dated 13.09.2017, under Sections 379, 411 IPC and Section 33 of the Indian Forest Act. The recovered logs of timber were taken into possession and the same were handed over to Shri Ravi Kant, the then Forest Guard, Incharge Baddi Beat. During further investigation, 24 fresh stumps of Khair were found, so the police were informed and suspicion was on Shri Ramesh Chand, resident of village Chhalondewali, from whom 104 logs of khair were recovered. Police conducted thorough investigation and analyzed the call details of Shri Ramesh Chand, which revealed that his mobile location was around the site from where the said trees were felled on 9th and 10th September, 2017. One Ram Partap disclosed that he saw S/Shri Dila Ram, Desh Raj, Ramesh Chand and Raj Kumar while they were felling the trees. Thus, the police called these persons to the police station, where they admitted that they felled the trees. During the course of investigation it was unearthed that illicitly felled trees were transported through Pickup, having registration No. HP12A-8401, owned by Shri Rakesh Kumar (petitioner herein). As the petitioner was found involved in the alleged offence, he was arrested on 20.01.2018 and the petitioner gave demarcation of M/s Orient Herbs Ltd. Plot No. 97, Baddi, where Khair wood was unloaded from his pickup. The petitioner also got demarcation of the spot by the police in Retwali DPF from where the Khair wood of illicitly felled trees was loaded in his pickup by Shri Ramesh Chand and others. Subsequently, the vehicle of the petitioner, i.e., pickup having registration No. HP12A-8401, was taken into possession alongwith its documents and its custody was handed over to learned Authorized Officer-cum-DFO, Nalagarh Division. The seized timber, i.e., 139 logs of Khair, were entrusted in the custody of Forest Officials and the police submitted final report. The petitioner moved an application before the learned Authorized Officer-cum-DFO Nalagarh for release of his vehicle, i.e., pickup having registration No. HP12A-8401, but the same was dismissed, vide order dated 11.03.2019. Precisely, the application was dismissed on the ground that the petitioner is habitual offender. As per the petitioner, he was neither made accused in the FIR nor he was apprehended while allegedly transporting the forest produce in vehicle having registration No. HP12E-7827. The petitioner preferred a criminal revision before the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Nalagarh, but the same was also dismissed, vide order dated 22.07.2019, hence the petitioner preferred the present petition laying challenge to the impugned orders passed by the learned Authorized Officer-cum-DFO, Nalagarh and by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Nalagarh. Mainly, the petitioner has based his claim that his vehicle, having registration No. HP12A-8401, was not found transporting the alleged forest produce, so the vehicle has been wrongly confiscated. As per the petitioner, the vehicle is losing its