1 mst IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION NOTICE OF MOTION NO.3258 OF 2009 IN SUIT NO.2114 OF 2009 Akbar Hasan Khan Plaintiff versus Municipal Corpn. of Greater Mumbai and others Defendants Mr.Anil R. Mishra for plaintiff. Mr.P.G.Lad i/by V.K.Khatu & A.J.Bhor for defendant nos.1 to 4. CORAM : S.J.KATHAWALLA, J. DATE : 11th January 2011 PC : 1. By this Notice of Motion, the plaintiff has sought the following relief :- "(a) That pending the hearing and final disposal of the suit the defendants be ordered and directed to auction the goods seized on 19/10/2008 and pay a sum of Rs.60,000/- being the cost of seized goods to plaintiff and deposit the balance amount in the Hon'ble Court, for appropriate order." 2. The goods which were seized on 19th October 2008 happens to be Cigarettes. It is possible that its shelf life has expired. In view thereof, the learned advocate appearing for the defendant no.1 submits that they have referred the matter to their Health Department who will be submitting a report on the issue whether the consumption of the said cigarettes would affect public health. The defendants are therefore directed to obtain a report from the Health Department within a period of two weeks from today and if the report of the Health Department is favourable, the defendants shall hold the auction within a period of four weeks thereafter 2 without insisting that the plaintiff should make any initial deposit and deposit the amount recovered by way of auction with the Prothonotary & Senior Master of this Court. Upon such deposit, the Prothonotary & Senior Master shall invest the amount deposited in the fixed deposit of any nationalized bank initially for a period of three years and shall renew the same every three years until further orders. If the report of the Health Department recommends that the cigarettes have lost its shelf life, then the defendants shall destroy the goods and the plaintiff shall be entitled to pursue his claim for damages against the defendants in the present suit. The Notice of Motion is accordingly disposed of. (S.J.KATHAWALLA, J.)