JUDGMENT

Dated this the 6th day of March , 2023 The petitioner's Toyota Fortuner vehicle bearing Reg. No.

KL-33-B-5678 was seized in connection with Crime No. 571 of 2022 of Tirur Police Station. The crime is registered on the allegation that at 00.40 hrs. on 07.07.2022, MDMA and Hasish oil were recovered from accused Nos. 1 and 2 while they were travelling in the petitioner's vehicle. The petitioner is not an accused in the crime.

2. According to the petitioner, when the first accused, a person known to him, had come down on leave from abroad, he requested the petitioner for the vehicle to visit his friends and relatives. As the petitioner found nothing suspicious about the request, the vehicle was handed over for temporary use. The petitioner had no clue that the vehicle would be misused by the first accused, that too for committing the heinous crime of drug trafficking. Pointing out these aspects and requesting to release his vehicle on interim custody, the petitioner approached the jurisdictional court. But the learned Judge refused to entertain the petition on the premise that the petitioner's remedy is to approach the Drug Disposal Committee. Accordingly, the petitioner filed Ex