HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD Criminal Petition No.6637 of 2009 Dated : 26.08.2009 Between : Pola Shekar ….. Petitioner a n d The State of A.P. and two others ….. Respondents HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD Criminal Petition No.6637 of 2009 ORDER: Heard Sri A.Prabhakar Rao, learned counsel for petitioner, and Sri A.Ramesh, learned counsel representing the learned Public Prosecutor, for all the three respondents. The crime and occurrence report in crime No.379/2008-2009 of Ibrahimpatnam Police Station was registered in pursuance of the panchanama recorded on 05.09.2008 on interception of auto No.AP29 V 7170 in which, black jaggery, alum and a can of illicitly distilled liquor were being carried. The first accused was the driver who stated the goods being carried in the auto to be those of the petitioner, the second accused and the goods and the auto were seized. The petitioner contends that he is carrying on business in kirana articles including jaggery and alum under a certificate of registration from the Commercial Taxes department and he is purchasing jaggery and alum under bills, transporting the same to his business place and selling the same under bills to his customers. He claimed to have purchased 20 bags of black jaggery of 50 kgs. each under a bill at Hyderabad and transporting the same in the said auto. During the transit, the auto was intercepted in which no illicitly distilled liquor was found, but a false case was foisted. The petitioner claims that black jaggery and alum are not prohibited under any law and black jaggery is subjected to agricultural market cess and sales tax. Therefore, he requests for interim custody of the auto, jaggery and alum. The Apex Court has laid down in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat[1] that orders under Section 451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for interim custody should be passed judiciously and expeditiously to enable safeguarding the properties seized in crimes for the benefit of those who ultimately succeed in the proceedings. The principles laid down need no reiteration and in the light of the claims of ownership of the petitioner, interim custody subject to appropriate conditions has to be entrusted to the petitioner. Therefore, auto No.AP 29 V 7170, 20 bags of black jaggery each 50 kgs. and 2 bags of alum each 40 kgs. seized in crime No.379 of 2008-2009 on the file of Ibrahimpatnam Police Station shall be entrusted to the interim custody of the petitioner on execution of a personal bond for Rs.50,000/- with one surety for a like sum to the satisfaction of the IV Metropolitan Magistrate, Ibrahimpatnam, further subject to the petitioner undertaking to maintain the auto in the same physical state without any change in its physical features and to produce the same whenever directed by the Court and not to alienate the same till the finality of the criminal proceedings and also further subject to the petitioner undertaking to produce the same quantity and quality of black jaggery and alum whenever directed by the Court. The criminal petition is ordered accordingly. ______________________ G.BHAVANI PRASAD, J 26th August, 2009 SUR [1] (2002) 10 SCC 283