IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No 4524 of 2009 1 Punam Gupta, wife of Ashok Kumar, resident of village – Kanti, P S – Kanti, Muzaffarpur (owner of Truck No BR-06G/0177) 2 Prabhu Gupta, son of Lakshmi Prasad Gupta, resident of village – Kanti, P S – Kanti, District – Muzaffarpur (owner of Truck No BR-06G/0148) - Petitioners Versus 1 The State of Bihar 2 The District Magistrate, Muzaffarpur 3 The Sub Divisional Magistrate (West), Muzaffarpur 4 The Managing Director, BSFC Ltd, Muzaffarpur 5 The District Manager, BSFC Ltd, Muzaffarpur 6 The Officer-in-Charge, Kanti Police Station, District - Muzaffarpur - Respondents *** For the petitioners : Mr D N Tiwary, Advocate For the S t a t e : Mr H S Roy, AC to AAG 2 *** 3 09.04.2010 By the present application, the two petitioners have sought release of their trucks being BR-06G/0177 and BR- 06G/0148 respectively which are lying seized in relation to Kanti Police Station Case No 314 of 2008 since 17.02.2009 for alleged offence punishable under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act alongwith other sections of the Indian Penal Code. It is alleged that the trucks, with the loaded foodgrains, were seized at the instance of the Manager of the State Food Corporation allegedly on the ground that it was carrying foodgrains meant for distribution to people below the poverty line and there appeared to be an effort to misutilise the same. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that on the reading of the first information report itself, there can hardly be any occasion for any offence at 2 least as far as the truck owners are concerned. Truck is a commercial commodity and continued seizure would cause it irreparable loss and injury. Considering the facts and circumstances, I direct the learned Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (West), Muzaffarpur, before whom the case is pending, to release the two trucks on proper verification to the two petitioners on furnishing sufficient security to his satisfaction. The security shall not be in the form of cash or bank guarantee. This would, however, be subject to the result of the criminal case and/or the confiscation proceedings being Case No 49 of 2008-2009 pending before the Collector, Muzaffarpur. This application is, accordingly, disposed of. Let the order be communicated to the Court concerned by FAX at the cost of the petitioners. M.E.H./ (Navaniti Prasad Singh)