IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD MONDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND FOUR PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI DEVINDER GUPTA,THE CHIEF JUSTICE and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU WRIT APPEAL NO : 1208 of 2004 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated 12/03/2004 in WP NO : 4804 OF 2004 on the file of the High Court.) Between: P.Trimurthy Raju, S/o.Raju, R/o.D.No.23-4-6, Kakaraparthavi Street, Satyanarayanapuram, Vijayawada,Krishna Dist. ..... APPELLANT AND 1 Joint Collector, Krishna District at Machilipatnam 2 Indian Oil Corporation through its Sales officer, G.V.R.Towers, III Floor, Bharathi Nagar, Ring Road, Vijayawada. 3 M/s.Madhucon Projects Ltd., through its M.D.,Opp.Mari Stella College,Vijayawada. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Appellant: MR.V.SUBRAHMANYAM Counsel for the Respondent No.1: GP FOR CIVIL SUPPLIES Counsel for the Respondent No.2: P.V. Sanjay Kumar Counsel for the Respondent No.3: None appeared. The Court made the following Oral Judgment : (per Sri Devinder Gupta, CJ) Writ petitioner-appellant was a transporter of the 3rd respondent and was used to transport H.S.D. The articles which were being carried/transported were seized by the Inspector of Police, Vigilance Cell, Civil Supplies Department, Vijayawada on the basis of a complaint received from the 3rd respondent alleging that they had received 767 Ltrs., short of HSD than the invoice quantity. The Joint Collector, Krishna, the 1st respondent herein, then passed final orders on 28.10.2003 ordering confiscation of value of 25% of the seized stock which was directed to be borne by the 3rd respondent. Aggrieved by the said order, 3rd respondent filed an appeal before the District and Sessions Judge, Krishna. Subsequently, appellant claimed the value of the seized stock since IOC had recovered the value of the seized stocks from the transport charges and claimed the ownership of the seized stock. The value of the seized stock was not handed over since the dispute of ownership was stated to be pending. Hence, Writ Petition No. 11203 of 2003 was filed by the appellant and this Court disposed of the said writ petition with liberty reserved to the appellant to file his claim before the 1st respondent and to establish his claim for release of the amounts in question. Thereafter, the 1st respondent passed an order on 22.12.2003 stating that since the appeal filed by the 3rd respondent was still pending before the District & Sessions Judge, it was not possible to release the amount to the appellant on the basis that appellant is the owner of the goods. However, in view of the report of the 2nd respondent, he has decided to release 75% of the stock to the appellant subject to recovering the same from him in case his ownership on the seized stock is not proved. This order was challenged by the petitioner in Writ Petition No.4604 of 2004, impugned in the present appeal, saying that since 75% of the amount had been released, the balance 25% will also be liable to be released on the same conditions without insisting upon the disposal of the proceedings before the District and Sessions Judge, Krishna. Appellant’s writ petition was dismissed. Therefore, he preferred the present appeal. Having heard the learned counsel for the appellant, we do not find that it is a fit case for interference at this stage in as much as different considerations prevailed while releasing 75% of the value of the stock to the appellant. In-as-much-as, proceedings are still pending before the District & Sessions Judge and only in the event of closure of the said proceedings, directions can be issued for release of the balance 25% of the amount. In case, appellant, so chooses, he is at liberty to approach the District and Sessions Judge, Krishna and seek for expeditious disposal of those proceedings. The writ appeal is accordingly dismissed. No costs. ______________________ DEVINDER GUPTA, CJ Date: 16th August, 2004 _________________ C.V.RAMULU,J pnb To 1 The Joint Collector, Krishna District at Machilipatnam 2 The Sales Officer, Indian Oil Corporation, G.V.R.Towers, III Floor, Bharathi Nagar, Ring Road, Vijayawada. 3 The Managing Director, M/s.Madhucon Projects Ltd., Opp.Mari Stella College,Vijayawada. 4 Two C.Cs. to Government Pleader for Civil Supplies, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad. (OUT) 5 Two CD copies