Gujarat HC Orders Interim Release Of Ather Scooter Seized In Liquor Case, Says Prohibition Act Section 98(2) Is No Absolute Bar

Police seized the petitioner’s registered Ather Rizta electric scooter, registration No. GJ-01-XW-1737, after allegedly finding its driver carrying liquor without a pass or permit.

An FIR was registered at Krishanagar Nagar Police Station, Ahmedabad City, for offences under Sections 66(1)(b), 65-A, 65(e), 81 and 98(2) of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949.

The Magistrate rejected the petitioner’s application for release of the vehicle; the Sessions Court dismissed her revision.

The petitioner then sought its release under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution and Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, citing the risk of deterioration while the vehicle remained in custody.

Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution empower the High Court to grant appropriate relief concerning seized property.

The Supreme Court in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat, AIR 2003 SC 638, observed that seized vehicles should not be left unattended to deteriorate and may be handed over on appropriate bond, guarantee and security, with provision for their return when required.

The judgment also relied on M/s ABC Express v. State of Gujarat, 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 885, for the principle that Section 98(2) of the Gujarat Prohibition Act does not impose an absolute bar on interim release of a seized vehicle; the court may order its proper custody under Section 451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, corresponding to Section 497 of the BNSS.

It also referred to the coordinate Bench decision in Musa Khan Jat v. State of Gujarat, SCR.A/7190/2017, which ordered release of a vehicle in an analogous case.

The petitioner was the registered owner of the seized vehicle, and the Court considered the risk that continued retention at the police station would cause deterioration.

Applying Sunderbhai and the cited Supreme Court ruling, the Court held that the confiscation provision did not prevent interim release where appropriate safeguards could protect the vehicle’s availability for trial.

It therefore found release justified, subject to security, undertakings, documentation of the vehicle’s condition and a restriction on transfer.

The vehicle is to stand confiscated if a subsequent offence occurs.

Before release, police must photograph it from all sides and prepare a panchanama, both to form part of the charge-sheet papers.

The order must also be sent to the concerned RTO to record the restriction on transfer, subject to any later order of the trial court permitting transfer.