Section 451

The Supreme Court held that the power to confiscate a vehicle seized in an NDPS case lies with the court trying the offence under Section 63(1), not with the Drug Disposal Committee, which may dispose of a conveyance only with the court's permission (paras 11-12, 14). It ordered the release of a lorry whose occupants had been acquitted, setting aside the orders refusing release (paras 16-17).

The Supreme Court held that the NDPS Seizure, Storage, Sampling and Disposal Rules, 2022 do not take away the Special Court's power to release a seized vehicle on interim custody under Sections 451 and 457 CrPC (Sections 497 and 503 BNSS). A lorry owner whose crew carried 6 kg of ganja, and who was never charged, got his vehicle back on supurdagi (paras 13-36).

The Supreme Court held that the NDPS Act does not bar the interim return of a seized vehicle, so the trial court may release it under Sections 451 and 457 CrPC read with Section 51 of the Act (paras 22-23). Where the charge-sheet makes no allegation against the owner or his agent, the vehicle should normally be released on superdari against a bond (para 30).

The Rajasthan High Court set aside the confiscation of a truck seized with Khair wood under the Rajasthan Forest Act, 1953. Confiscation proceedings run parallel to the trial and need not await a conviction, it held, but Section 52(5) bars confiscating a vehicle used without the owner's knowledge or connivance. The Authorised Officer had recorded exactly that finding and still confiscated the truck because forest offences were rising, an order the Court called void (paras 22, 24, 28-30).

The Rajasthan High Court quashed a Special Judge's order releasing a vehicle seized by the Narcotics Control Bureau, holding that where the CrPC is inconsistent with the NDPS Act, Section 51 makes the NDPS Act prevail. The NCB may dispose of the vehicle under Section 52A, an interim measure that leaves the owner's rights to be decided in confiscation proceedings under Sections 60 to 63 (paras 7-10).

The Rajasthan High Court disposed of 847 petitions seeking release of vehicles seized for illegal mining. To keep parity with vehicles seized by the Mining Department, vehicles seized by the police are to be released only after the owner deposits the compounding fee, the compensation determined by the NGT and the cost of mineral, and undertakes not to repeat the offence, because release on mere surety would encourage illegal mining (paras 5-6, 18-20).