After Bolero Remained Seized For 8 Years, Orissa HC Grants Accused Owner Interim Custody In 98.9-Kg Ganja Case, Subject To Conditions

The petitioner, claiming to be the registered owner of a Bolero Jeep, sought its interim release after it was seized in connection with Boriguma P.S. Case No. 91 of 2018.

The vehicle had allegedly been used to transport 98.900 kg of ganja.

The Special Judge refused release, reasoning that the petitioner was an accused and the vehicle was liable to confiscation.

The petitioner challenged that order in revision.

Section 60(3) of the NDPS Act makes a conveyance used to carry narcotic or psychotropic substances liable to confiscation, unless its owner establishes that it was used without the knowledge or connivance of the owner, agent and person in charge, and that each took reasonable precautions.

The Court read the second proviso to Section 63(2) of the NDPS Act as permitting interim orders concerning articles other than narcotic drugs, including a conveyance, where appropriate.

Confiscation is to be determined after the requisite inquiry and an opportunity of hearing to persons claiming an interest in the vehicle; the possibility of confiscation does not itself bar interim custody.

The Court also referred to Bishwajit Dey v. State of Assam, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 40, noting that the Supreme Court had directed interim release of a vehicle to its owner.

The Court held that whether the vehicle had been used without the petitioner’s knowledge or connivance was a factual question for determination in the appropriate inquiry or trial, and that the petitioner’s status as an accused did not by itself preclude interim release.

As the vehicle had been seized in 2018, remained in police custody, and the trial had not concluded, continued storage risked diminishing its value without benefiting either the owner or the State.

In the absence of a specific statutory bar, the Court considered interim release appropriate, subject to safeguards preserving the vehicle’s value and availability for future confiscation proceedings.

These included providing photographs of the vehicle from different angles, undertaking not to sell or transfer ownership until conclusion of the trial, and undertaking to surrender the vehicle within seven days of direction or pay its determined value.