HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD Criminal Petition No.7637 of 2009 Dated : 18.09.2009 Between : Sk.Subhani ….. Petitioner a n d The State of A.P. & 2 others ….. Respondents HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD Criminal Petition No.7637 of 2009 ORDER: Heard Sri Palle Nageswar Rao, learned counsel for the petitioner, and Sri A.Ramesh, learned counsel representing the learned Public Prosecutor, for all the respondents. Crime No.226 of 2009 on the file of Sathenapalli Police Station, Khammam District, was registered on the interception of a two wheeler in which illicitly distilled liquor was found to be carried and on the confession of the second accused in the crime, who was plying the vehicle, the subject lorry was intercepted in which the first accused was travelling. The third accused/the petitioner is said to be the owner-cum-driver of the lorry, who was also arrested for carrying contraband in the lorry. The petitioner produced a copy of the registration certificate of the vehicle and a copy of the permit of the lorry to probablize that he is the ostensible owner of the vehicle. He claims that he is innocent of the offence and he also denies carrying any illicitly distilled liquor in the lorry. He claims to be earning his livelihood by running the lorry purchased with the financial assistance of ING Vysya Bank. He further claims that if the lorry were not to be returned, he will loose his livelihood and cannot repay the loan installments to the bank. He also claims that if the lorry is kept unused and unattended, it will deteriorate in value. The Supreme Court held in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat[1] that in case of vehicles seized in crimes, they should not be allowed to become junk by being kept unattended and unused in the premises of the police stations and directed that judicious and expeditious orders should be passed regarding interim custody of such vehicles under Section 451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure within six months. Therefore, irrespective of truth or otherwise of the claims of the petitioner, the interim custody of the vehicle should be entrusted to him subject to appropriate conditions. Therefore, lorry bearing No.AP37 V 4057 seized in crime No.226 of 2009 on the file of Sathupally Police Station shall be entrusted to the interim custody of the petitioner on his execution of a personal bond for Rs.3 lacs with one surety for a likesum to the satisfaction of the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Sathupally, and further subject to the petitioner undertaking to maintain the vehicle in the same physical state without any change in its physical features and not to alienate the same and to produce the same whenever directed by the Court. The criminal petition is ordered accordingly. ______________________ G.BHAVANI PRASAD, J 18th September, 2009 SUR [1] 2002 (10) SCC 283