THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD CRIMINAL PETITION No.5864 of 2009 DATED:18.09.2009 Between: V.Vamshi Krishna .. Petitioner And The State of Andhra Pradesh, rep., by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad .. Respondent THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD CRIMINAL PETITION No.5864 of 2009 ORDER: Heard Smt.G.P.Vindhya, learned counsel representing Sri J.Prabhakar, learned counsel for the petitioner, and Sri A.Ramesh, learned counsel representing the learned Public Prosecutor for the sole respondent. The petitioner is aggrieved by the dismissal of Crl.M.P.No.1068 of 2009 in Cr.No.5 of 2009 of Police Station Nakrekal on 01.07.2009 by the Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Nakrekal, Nalgonda. The petitioner claiming to be the owner of the vehicle in question sought for entrustment of interim custody of the same to him, but the learned Magistrate, in spite of absence of any objections from the prosecution, considered that the vehicle was used for carrying illicitly distilled liquor and the Deputy Commissioner of Excise and Prohibition is the competent authority to return the vehicle, and consequently dismissed the petition. Insofar as the jurisdiction of this Court to intervene in exercise of its inherent jurisdiction is concerned, the same is not in dispute and the petitioner is not the accused in the crime. He cannot be attributed with any responsibility for carrying the illicitly distilled liquor in the vehicle straight away. He claims innocence and only desires entrustment of the interim custody of the vehicle to him and the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that if the vehicle is kept unattended and unused till the finality of the criminal proceedings, it will deteriorate in value and utility. The learned counsel also submitted that the petitioner is ready to furnish satisfactory security and to abide by any conditions imposed. In view of the decision of the Apex Court in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai V. State of Gujarat[1], the vehicle should be entrusted to the interim custody of the petitioner. Therefore, Hero Honda Motor Cycle bearing No.AP-09-S-5092 involved in Cr.No.5 of 2009 of Nakrekal Police Station, Nalgonda District shall be entrusted to the interim custody of the petitioner on his execution of a personal bond for Rs.40,000/- (Rupees forty thousand only) with one surety for a likesum to the satisfaction of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class Nakrekal, Nalgonda District and further subject to the petitioner undertaking to maintain the vehicle in the same physical state without any alteration in its physical features and not to alienate or encumber the same and produce the same whenever required by the Court or the Deputy Commissioner, Prohibition and Excise concerned, till the finality of the criminal proceedings. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. ___________________ G. BHAVANI PRASAD, J 18th September 2009 KH [1] (2002) 10 SCC 283