Gujarat HC Orders Liquor-Case Creta Released On Bond, Applying SC Ruling That Gujarat Prohibition Act Is No Absolute Bar To Interim Custody

The petitioner sought release of a Hyundai Creta seized after police intercepted it on secret information and allegedly found its driver carrying liquor without a pass or permit.

An FIR was registered at Unava Police Station, Mehsana, under the Gujarat Prohibition Act.

The petitioner relied on a finance company’s no-objection certificate and sought interim custody of the vehicle; the State opposed release by reference to the Act’s confiscation provisions.

The Court considered the petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution and Section 497 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS).

Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution empower the High Court to grant appropriate relief, including interim release of seized property.

Section 497 of the BNSS, corresponding to Section 451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, permits the Court to make appropriate orders for the custody of property pending trial.

In Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat, the Supreme Court stated that seized vehicles should not be left at police stations to deteriorate and may be handed over on appropriate bonds, guarantees, or security.

The Court also relied on Musa Khan Jat v. State of Gujarat as an instance of vehicle release under Articles 226 and 227.

In M/s ABC Express v. State of Gujarat, the Supreme Court held that Section 98(2) of the Gujarat Prohibition Act does not impose an absolute bar on interim release of a seized vehicle and that the Court may order its proper custody under Section 451 CrPC.

The Court treated the prohibition-law confiscation provisions as not automatically preventing interim custody, relying on the Supreme Court’s clarification in M/s ABC Express that Section 98(2) is not an absolute embargo.

It also considered the risk that a vehicle left in police custody would deteriorate, consistent with Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai, and the coordinate Bench’s approach in Musa Khan Jat.

It therefore ordered release while imposing conditions intended to secure the vehicle’s value, prevent its transfer, and ensure its availability for trial.

The order further provides that the vehicle shall stand confiscated in the event of a subsequent offence.

Before release, police must photograph the vehicle from all sides and prepare a panchnama at the petitioner’s cost; these materials are to form part of the charge-sheet papers.

A copy of the order is to be sent to the RTO for the required register entry and notice of the restraint on transfer, subject to any later order of the Trial Court.

Rule was made absolute.