THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.TUKARAMJI CRIMINAL PETITION No. 7211 OF 2025

ORDER

This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 503(2) read with 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter ‘the BNSS’) seeking to release the petitioner’s vehicle Ford Endeavour Car bearing Registration No. TS 15 FD 2767, which was in the custody of the Police, Gummadidala, in Crime No. 231 of 2024 of Gummadidala Police Station, Sangareddy District.

2. Heard Mr. A. Venkata Narayana Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr.Jithender Rao Veeramalla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor, representing respondent No.1-State.

3. Briefly stated relevant facts are that the vehicle of the petitioner was seized by the police concerned in an offence under Section 8(c) read with Sections 22(c), 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short ‘NDPS Act’). The petitioner is the owner of the vehicle.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, as per the instructions received, the vehicle in question was seized by the police in connection with Crime No. 231 of 2024. However, the said vehicle has not been produced before the jurisdictional Magistrate to date. The petitioner is aggrieved by the fact that the vehicle, being left idle and exposed to the elements, is likely to suffer damage and depreciation in value due to prolonged disuse and climatic exposure.

5. In view of this, the petitioner approached the I Additional District and Sessions Court by filing an application under Section 503 of the BNSS, seeking interim custody of the vehicle. However, the said application was returned with an endorsement stating that the property in question had not been deposited before the Court.

6. Subsequently, the petitioner re-submitted the application with a supporting endorsement highlighting that the Court is vested with the authority to direct the concerned police to produce or deposit the property before the Court for appropriate orders. Despite this, the petition was once again returned, without adjudication on merits. Left with no efficacious remedy, the petitioner now seeks a direction from this Hon’ble Court to instruct the concerned police authorities to produce the seized vehicle before the appropriate Court and to consider the petitioner’s prayer for interim custody in accordance with law.

7. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor submits that, according to the petitioner, although the vehicle was seized by the police, it has not yet been produced before the competent Court. Nevertheless, it is submitted that the Court does possess the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the application and pass appropriate orders under Section 503 of the BNSS/Section 457 of the CrPC, as applicable.

8. I have carefully considered the submissions advanced by both parties and have examined the material available on record.

9. It is an admitted fact that the vehicle in question was seized by the Gummadidala Police, Sangareddy, in connection with a case registered under the NDPS Act. Be that as it may, the remand report dated 10.01.2025 clearly records that the vehicle was seized from Accused No. 1 and is now the subject matter of the present request for interim custody. Notwithstanding this, the petitioner has filed an application seeking interim custody of the said vehicle before the competent Court that is presently seized of the proceedings arising from the said crime.

10. It is important to note that Sections 497, 498, and 503 of the BNSS govern the procedures related to the custody and disposal of property involved in criminal proceedings. These provisions ensure the systematic handling of property either seized or produced during the course of an investigation, inquiry, or trial.

Section 497 pertains to the interim custody and, where necessary, the provisional disposal of property that is produced before a criminal Court or Magistrate during the pendency of an investigation, inquiry, or trial.

This provision enables the Court