JUDGMENT

This writ petition is filed seeking the following reliefs:

“(i) a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction commanding the respondents to release the vehicle bearing Registration No. KL-40-C-6516 to the petitioner within a time stipulated by this Hon’ble Court;

(ii) a declaration that the seizure of the vehicle owned by the petitioner is illegal, arbitrary, and without authority of law;

(iii) to dispense with the requirement of filing translations of vernacular documents produced as Exhibits in this Writ Petition; and (iv) to issue any other writ, order, or direction that this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.”[SIC]

2. The petitioner is the owner of a tipper lorry bearing Registration No. KL-40-C-6516. On 06.01.2026, the said vehicle was seized by the 4^th respondent on the apprehension that it was allegedly used for transporting sand/red earth for reclaiming paddy land in Re-survey No. 140/5 of Kombanad Village, Ernakulam District. According to the petitioner, the property is not included in the data bank as ‘nilam’ and therefore the provisions of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act ,