Vehicle Seizure Release — Advocate at Asansol Court

In a motor accident case the offending vehicle is seized and kept as evidence. In coal and sand cases, trucks and tractors are seized along with the mineral under the mining and mineral rules. In insurance and permit cases the seizure is administrative. In a stolen-vehicle case the police hold the vehicle until the owner is identified, which can take months if the engine and chassis numbers are tampered with.

The seizure list is the crucial document. It should record the registration number, the engine and chassis numbers, the condition of the vehicle, the place of seizure and the articles inside. If the numbers are wrongly entered, the release application becomes difficult later. Ask for the seizure memo the same day and check the officer's name, the time and the place.

Owners should also check whether the seizure was recorded in the general diary of the police station, since a vehicle held without a proper entry creates its own problems when a release application is filed later. If the vehicle was handed to a transporter or a repair shop and then seized from there, the person in possession may also have to be joined in the application.

Section 457 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, which replaced the corresponding provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, deals with the procedure where property has been seized by the police. Where the case is not complete and the property is not required for the investigation, the person entitled to possession may apply to the Magistrate for its return.

The application is filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate or the Magistrate having jurisdiction at Asansol, naming the police station, the case number and the vehicle details. It must show that the applicant is the registered owner or is otherwise entitled to possession. Notice is issued to the investigating officer, who files a report on whether the vehicle is still needed as evidence.

Where the value of the vehicle is high and the case is still under investigation, the court may ask for a valuation report before ordering release. Nothing prevents the owner from applying a second time if the first application is dismissed on the ground that the investigation is incomplete, since the position changes once the chargesheet is filed in the court.

Release is normally granted on a supurdnama, a written undertaking that the owner will produce the vehicle before the court or the police whenever required. The court may also insist on an indemnity bond, a surety, and production of the original registration certificate, insurance policy and fitness certificate. Photographs of the vehicle at the time of release protect the owner against later allegations of damage.

Conditions often include a bar on sale or transfer until the case ends and a bar on changing the colour or major parts. In accident cases, courts may require the owner to deposit a sum towards compensation. Breach of the supurdnama conditions can lead to cancellation and re-seizure, so the terms must be read closely before the undertaking is signed.

An inter-state seizure adds one layer of complication. Where a West Bengal vehicle is seized in Jharkhand, Bihar or Odisha, the release application must be made in the court having jurisdiction there, and the owner must travel or engage a local advocate. The documents required are the same, but certified copies may have to be attested for use in another state.

Keep a complete set of vehicle papers ready at all times: registration certificate, insurance, pollution certificate, permit and fitness for transport vehicles, and a copy of the driving licence. Where the vehicle was purchased on finance, the hypothecation entry remains on the registration until a no-objection certificate is obtained from the financier, and a court may ask who holds the title.

If the Magistrate refuses to release the vehicle, or imposes conditions that are impossible to meet, the remedy is a revision or appeal before the Sessions Judge or the High Court. The order must be shown to be perverse, passed without jurisdiction or based on irrelevant considerations. Courts have held repeatedly that goods carriers and taxis should not be allowed to rot merely because a case is pending.

Timelines matter. Courts will not award compensation simply because the vehicle deteriorated, and each day of delay affects resale value and the owner's earnings. Filing the release application within days of the seizure, with every document attached, is far better than waiting for the chargesheet. The same approach applies to seized cash, mobile phones and other property. An owner who waits for the chargesheet has, in effect, lost the use of the vehicle for the entire period of the trial.

Where the vehicle stands registered in the name of a firm or a company, the application should be supported by the incorporation documents and a resolution authorising the person who signs it. A financier holding hypothecation may also apply, since the finance company has a direct interest in preserving the value of the asset, and the original no-objection certificate is useful where the loan is closed.