TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2014 (9) TMI 1302
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....ember, 2013, the learned Additional Sessions Judge allowed the petitioner to sell the vehicle in question subject to the condition that the prospective/intending purchaser shall execute the superdari bond to produce the vehicle as and when required. The relevant portion of the impugned order is reproduced hereunder:- "...It has been contended on behalf of the applicant that the vehicle in question bearing registration No.DL-3CAY-5481 is the subject matter of the instant case as it was taken away from the possession the complainant. The same has been released on superdari to Harjeet Singh authorised by the applicant/owner Manjeet Singh. It is now submitted that the owner wants to sell the vehicle in question as it has become too old and its market value is also depreciating. The vehicle being more than five years old has become white elephant, very expensive to maintain as such the applicant/owner may be permitted to sell the same on the terms and conditions as may be deemed appropriate. On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor has submitted that the case is still pending and it may require the production of the vehicle in question, therefore, the ap....
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....vations, the application stands disposed of." Petitioner's contentions 4. The petitioner is aggrieved by the condition imposed by the learned Sessions Court and has sought the permission to unconditionally sell the vehicle in question on the ground that the impugned order is in clear violation of the principles laid down in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat, (2002) 10 SCC 283, Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat, (2002) 10 SCC 290 and General Insurance Council v. State of A.P., (2010) 6 SCC 768 in which the Supreme Court held that the photographs of the vehicle can be used as secondary evidence during trial and it is not necessary to produce the vehicle at the time of trial. It is submitted that the learned Sessions Court has imposed unreasonable and arbitrary condition contrary to the well settled principles of law. Present status of the case properties in custody of Delhi Police 5. During the course of the hearing dated 17th February, 2014, learned counsel for the petitioner pointed out that the Courts are not following the principles laid down by the Supreme Court and large number of vehicles are lying inside the police stations as well as on publ....
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.... 2,13,323 properties is sustainable whereas condition of 60,400 is not sustainable. 6.2.3 The properties lying inside the police stations are 2,79,214 whereas 1,163 properties are lying on the roads/public places. 6.2.4 Out of 2,75,121, only 905 properties have been claimed. 6.2.5 Out of 2,81,003 cases, 30,655 are pending investigation; 2,09,208 cases are pending trial and 41,163 have been disposed of. 6.2.6 No measures have been taken by Delhi Police for safety of the properties. 7. The Delhi Police has placed on record 21 photographs which show that the vehicles in the custody of Delhi Police have been reduced to junk. Response of Delhi Police 8. The properties seized by the Police during the course of preliminary inquiry or investigation under Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 and Special Laws are produced before the concerned Magistrate. The seized articles are then deposited in the storage facility in a police station termed as Malkhana prescribed under Chapters XXII & XXVII of the Punjab Police Rules of 1934. The Moharrir Head Constable (Malkhana)(in short MHCM) and Moharrir Head Constable (Case Property) [in short MHC(CP)] are the custodian of the case prope....
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....due to shortage of necessary infrastructure. 12. Delhi Police has a specialized Unit named "Provisioning and Logistics Unit" (hereinafter referred to as P&L Unit) which deals with disposal of unclaimed properties taken into custody under Section 66 of Delhi Police Act, 1978. The P&L Unit has a proper infrastructure for procurement and disposal of unclaimed properties as per the procedure laid down in Sections 67, 68 and 69 of Delhi Police Act. The P&L Unit of Delhi Police also deals with the disposal/auction of condemned vehicles/Government stores which includes furniture, office equipments, arms and ammunitions and even radioactive material. The disposal of the arms and ammunitions is done through the Ordinance Depots/Factories. The P&L Unit is also conducting auction of unserviceable and condemned goods by tender/public auction. Delhi Police has also an agreement with M/s. Metal Scrap Trading Corporation Ltd. for disposal of the equipments. In the last three years, P&L Unit has auctioned 7115 unclaimed condemned government vehicles. The P&L Unit of Delhi Police is ready to take the responsibility for disposal of case properties. 13. The Government of NCT Delhi, Department o....
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....ies in cases pending trial 17504 195273 212777 3. Case properties in cases pending investigation cases 2715 28738 31453 Total 25547 261194 286741 19. The disposal of case properties has to be expeditiously ordered by the Courts as per the procedure prescribed in Section 451 to 459 Cr.P.C. When an application is moved by a SHO for disposal of any case property under Section 451 or 457 Cr.P.C., immediate direction has to be passed by the concerned Court. Wherever necessary, notice should be issued to the owner/any other interested party to submit reply within one week as to their title or claim or objection to disposal by destruction of the seized property. The final order should be passed by the Court within one month of the receipt of application from the SHO. 20. In case of perishable properties or those subject to speedy and natural decay, disposal should be ordered keeping in view the expected life of the property rather than the conclusion of investigation/trial. Certain items like vehicles, which also deteriorate with time, speedy disposal shall similarly be ensured to effectively implement the mandate of the Supreme Court in....
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....sed within one week of receipt of reply from Insurer. Where Insurer fails to reply to the notice within the time prescribed, exparte order be passed within one week. Disposal of such properties by auction should also be done by DCP/Provisioning & Logistics following due procedure. Relevant provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure 25. Chapter XXXIV - DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY 25.1 Section 451. Order for custody and disposal of property pending trial in certain cases.- When any property is produced before any Criminal Court during an inquiry or trial, the court may make such order as it thinks fit for the proper custody of such property pending the conclusion of the inquiry or trial, and, if the property is subject to speedy and natural decay, or if it is otherwise expedient so to do, the court may, after recording such evidence as it thinks necessary, order it to be sold or otherwise disposed of. Explanation. For the purposes of this section, property includes2014:DHC:4541 (a) Property of any kind or document which is produced before the court or which is in its custody. (b) Any property regarding which an offence appears to have been committed or which appe....
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....ch person cannot be ascertained, respecting the custody and production of such property. (2) If the person so entitled is known, the Magistrate may order the property to delivered to him on such conditions (if any) as the Magistrate thinks fit and if such person is unknown, the Magistrate may detain it and shall, in such case, issue a proclamation specifying the articles of which such property consists, and requiring any person who may have a claim thereto, to appear before him and establish his claim within six months from the date of such proclamation. 25.4 Section 458. Procedure when no claimant appears within six months.- (1) If no person within such period establishes his claim to such property, and if the person in whose possession such property was found is unable to show that it was legally acquired by him, the Magistrate may by order direct that such property shall be at the disposal of the State Government and may be sold by that Government and the proceeds of such sale shall be dealt with in such manner as may be prescribed. (2) An appeal shall be against any such order to the court to which appeals ordinarily lie from convictions by the Magistrate. 25.....
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.... custody of the Police Department during the trial of the case. At the end of the case and not till after the appeal or revision, if any, the Court shall make the articles over to the Police Department for their destruction or for such other action as may be found suitable in accordance with the rules of that department. 3. Custody and disposal of the property-Property of the second kind, when sent in to headquarters, will remain in the custody of the Police until the Magistrate makes an order for the issue of a proclamation under Section 523 of the Code of Criminal Procedure [Section 457 of new Code] when it should be transferred to the custody of the Nazir or otherwise disposed of as the Magistrate may direct. 4. Custody and disposal of the property-Property of the third kind should on arrival at headquarters be made over at once to the Nazir by the Police Department. 5. Custody of coins, currency notes, etc.-In any individual case where the property consists of bullion, coin, currency notes, valuable securities or jewels, and is of great value, say, above one thousand rupees, it should instead of being made over, under the preceding rules to the Nazir,....
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....disposal of all arms, ammunition and military stores. 4. Register of Arms, etc., deposited in malkhana- Particulars of all arms, ammunition or military stores received in the malkhana shall at once be entered in register to be kept for this purpose, in addition to Miscellaneous Register F, in form I appended to these rules. On the receipt of any arms, ammunition or military stores, columns 1 to 13 shall forthwith be filled up, and the register shall then be submitted to the Nazarat Officer who, after satisfying himself as to the accuracy of the entries, shall place his initials in columns 14. 5. Return of arms, etc., deposited in the malkhana- Arms, ammunition and military stores which have been deposited in the malkhana, and have not been forfeited to Government, shall be returned to the persons entitled to possess them in cases in which the deposit was made by a Court, under the orders in writing of that Court and in other cases under the orders in writing of the Nazarat Officer. The return of all arms, ammunition and military stores under this rule shall take place in the presence of a Gazetted Officer, who shall be responsible for seeing that the relevant colu....
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....bmit the receipt of the Ordnance Officer to the District Magistrate for his information. (b) All arms, other than those referred to in clause (a) of this rule, ammunition and military stores shall be broken up or destroyed locally in the presence of the Nazarat Officer and the materials (if any) remaining shall be sold. When the procedure prescribed by this rule has been completed, the relevant columns of the register shall be filled up. It is of great importance that the number of articles awaiting disposal under this rule should not be allowed to become excessive. Articles, the destruction of which has been ordered, should be kept as far as possible separate from the remainder of the arms, ammunition and military stores in the malkhana, and should be despatched to the Arsenal or destroyed locally, as the case may be, at least once a month. A simple register of such articles should be kept in Form II appended to these rules. 9. Register No. 1 to be opened a new every year. Its checking by the Nazarat Officer and the District Magistrate-The register mentioned in Rule 4 shall be an annual register. At the beginning of each year a new register shall be opened on to ....
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....cordance with the provisions of P.P.R 27(39)(5)(II). All other property shall be disposed of immediately after the orders for sending the case as untraced are passed by the Magistrate. All the case property in the untraced cases shall be disposed of immediately only after obtaining the orders from the concerned MM for final disposal and not otherwise. 2. Cancelled Cases Once a case has been cancelled, the property need not be retained. All such property shall be disposed of immediately after the orders of cancellation of the case are passed by the Magistrate. The SHO shall, however, obtain specific orders from the Magistrate for the disposal of such case property. 3. Cases under Appeal Since appeal is in continuation of the trial process, the case property connected with criminal cases shall not be disposed of or destroyed without ascertaining facts regarding filling of appeals either by the state or by the accused. The property in such cases should not be destroyed or disposed of till the finalization of the Appeals/Writ Petitions/Special Leave Petitions etc., if any. Before doing so, a clearance report should be had from the office of the Chief....
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.... for an SHO to examine all case properties by just doing checking twice a month keeping in view the sheer volume of articles, he should at least check some articles, say 30 or 40 in a fortnight and record an entry in the Daily Diary. Inspector (L&O) and Inspector (CI) shall also do this exercise on a fortnightly basis. They should in particular check that the items are readily available in the Malkhana and are properly labeled, indexed and kept in an orderly manner and there is no scope of their being decayed or destroyed or stolen. They MHC(CP) and SHO would also ensure that the disposal of case properties after finalization of the case in the court is done and no item is kept pending in the Malkhana once the case has been finally decided. B. Role of ACP and other Senior Officers The supervisory officers must check Malkhana Register and Government Property Registers invariably whenever they visit the police stations and cross-check a few properties to ensure that there is no misappropriation of articles. They should also ensure that SHO/Inspector (L&O) / Inspector (CI) are making regular checking of both the Malkhanas. C. Formal Inspection & Ann....
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....quiry or trial. This may particularly be necessary where the property concerned is subject to speedy or natural decay. There may be other compelling reasons also which may justify the disposal of the property to the owner or otherwise in the interest of justice. The High Court and the Sessions Judge proceeded on the footing that one of the essential requirements of the Code is that the articles concerned must be produced before the Court or should be in its custody. The object of the Code seems to be that any property which is in the control of the Court either directly or indirectly should be disposed of by the Court and a just and proper order should be passed by the Court regarding its disposal. In a criminal case, the police always acts under the direct control of the Court and has to take orders from it at every stage of an inquiry or trial. In this broad sense, therefore, the Court exercises an overall control on the actions of the police officers in every case where it has taken cognizance." (Emphasis supplied) The Supreme Court further observed that where the property is stolen, lost or destroyed and there is no prima facie defence made out that the State or its offic....
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....keep the article in safe custody; 3. if the proper panchnama before handing over possession of the article is prepared, that can be used in evidence instead of its production before the court during the trial. If necessary, evidence could also be recorded describing the nature of the property in detail; and 4. this jurisdiction of the court to record evidence should be exercised promptly so that there may not be further chance of tampering with the articles." Valuable articles and currency notes With respect to the valuable articles and currency notes, the Supreme Court held as under: "11. With regard to valuable articles, such as, golden or silver ornaments or articles studded with precious stones, it is submitted that it is of no use to keep such articles in police custody for years till the trial is over. In our view, this submission requires to be accepted. In such cases, the Magistrate should pass appropriate orders as contemplated under Section 451 CrPC at the earliest. 12. For this purpose, if material on record indicates that such articles belong to the complainant at whose house theft, robbery or dacoity has taken place, then seize....
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....In case where the vehicle is not claimed by the accused, owner, or the insurance company or by a third person, then such vehicle may be ordered to be auctioned by the court. If the said vehicle is insured with the insurance company then the insurance company be informed by the court to take possession of the vehicle which is not claimed by the owner or a third person. If the insurance company fails to take possession, the vehicles may be sold as per the direction of the court. The court would pass such order within a period of six months from the date of production of the said vehicle before the court. In any case, before handing over possession of such vehicles, appropriate photographs of the said vehicle should be taken and detailed panchnama should be prepared." Liquor and narcotic drugs With respect to seized liquor and narcotic drugs, the Supreme Court observed as under:- "19. For articles such as seized liquor also, prompt action should be taken in disposing of it after preparing necessary panchnama. If sample is required to be taken, sample may be kept properly after sending it to the Chemical Analyser, if required. But in no case, large quantity of liquor sho....
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....vestigating as well as prosecuting agencies were not taking adequate steps for compliance of the directions in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat (supra 1) which has resulted in loss of assets worth several hundred crores and the recovered vehicles are reduced to junk by the time they are released. The Supreme Court gave fresh directions in this matter. The relevant portion of the judgment is as under: "3. ... They further contended that despite the directions passed by this Court in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai [(2002) 10 SCC 283 : 2003 SCC (Cri) 1943], as also in General Insurance Council v. State of A.P. [(2007) 12 SCC 354 : (2008) 1 SCC (Cri) 384], there has not been full and complete compliance with the same. Therefore, they have once again approached this Court for issuing further directions so that national waste with regard to the seized vehicles involved in commission of various offences may not become junk and their roadworthiness be maintained. 4. According to the petitioners, in the report of 2005 of NCRB, 84,675 vehicles were reported lost, out of which 24,918 vehicles were recovered by the police and out of these, only 4676 vehicles were finall....
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....her observed that the Inspector General of Police of the division/Commissioner of Police concerned of the cities/Superintendent of Police concerned of the district concerned shall be responsible for implementation of the statutory provisions and the directions of the Supreme Court. The relevant directions are as under: 14. It is a matter of common knowledge that as and when vehicles are seized and kept in various police stations, not only do they occupy substantial space in the police stations but upon being kept in open, are also prone to fast natural decay on account of weather conditions. Even a good maintained vehicle loses its roadworthiness if it is kept stationary in the police station for more than fifteen days. Apart from the above, it is also a matter of common knowledge that several valuable and costly parts of the said vehicles are either stolen or are cannibalised so that the vehicles become unworthy of being driven on road. To avoid all this, apart from the aforesaid directions issued hereinabove, we direct that all the State Governments/Union Territories/Director Generals of Police shall ensure macro implementation of the statutory provisions and further dir....
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....se against accused No. 1 is likely to be split up. Even assuming the case against accused No. 2 and 3 is expeditiously concluded, for want of other accused split up charge sheet would be pending and the petitioner has to suffer the restrictions of the conditional order prohibiting alienation till the disposal of the case. It is not known when the absconding accused is likely to be traced and the trial against him will be concluded. The indefinite and uncertain situation pestering the complainant prompted him to make an application to permit him to alienate the car. 4. After hearing the counsel for the State and the petitioner, I find that the grievance made out by the petitioner is genuine. Of course, in the usual course of routine conditional orders are passed while delivering the property to the interim custody. When the property has any evidentiary value, it is to be kept intact and to ensure its production during the course of evidence for the purpose of marking as a material object the condition of non-alienation is imposed. However, when the property has no evidentiary value and only the value of the property is to be properly secured for passing of final order under....
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....ted from beneficial possession and enjoyment of the same by the archaic conditions imposed as a regular routine despite the changed context of scientific developments. 7. To illustrate, a situation one X looses gold jewellar by theft. The police successfully detect and discover the gold jewellary the same is produced before the Court. Production of gold jewellary and marking of the same in evidence to prove the same as corpus delicti is one of the insistence of law as a part of fair trial. Even after the gold jewellery is given to the custody of X to deprive him by imposing the condition of non-alienation from exercise of right ownership for unreasonable length of time would be too harsh and one sided, and a non-chalent towards the victims of crime. It may be that X require the gold jewellary for the purpose of the marriage of his daughter or may be that he may require funds for medical treatment or other genuine needs, when he has no alternative source except by sale of the gold jewellary the condition of non-alternation in such situation would be onerous and unreasonable. The production of property during the trial having incriminating value is a insistence to secure the....
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.... the petitioner shall deposit the value before the Trial Court in the event of final orders going against him. The Registrar General directed to circulate the copy of this order to all the Sessions Judges and Magistrates in the State for proper compliance." (Emphasis supplied) 34. In Sundaram Finance Ltd. v. State of Tamil Nadu, (2011) 1 MWN (Cri) 437, the police seized a Chevrolet Tavera car involved in offences under Sections 341/363/323/506(ii) IPC. The vehicle was released by the Court to the owner on executing a bond of Rs.5,00,000/- and to produce the same as and when required. The owner was also directed not to alter or change or sell the vehicle. The vehicle later caught fire and the entire front portion was damaged. Since the cost of repair was very high, the owner sought permission to sell the vehicle which was declined on the ground that the vehicle was necessary for identification during the trial. The owner challenged the order before the Madras High Court. The High Court allowed the owner to sell the vehicle following the judgment of the Supreme Court in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat (supra). The relevant portion of the said judgment is r....
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....asures to remove the bottlenecks. The Committee also examined the issue relating to the properties seized by the police. Chapter 5 of the Report which deals with the issues relating to the case properties is reproduced hereunder:- "PART (I) EXISTING SYSTEM Besides various other reasons for which matters often get adjourned in criminal courts one major reason is the non-production or non-availability of the case property articles. Often the criminal cases involve recovery of one or the other incriminating article at the instance of accused and during the course of trial when the prosecution witnesses of recovery enters the witness box then they are required to be shown the said case property articles during the course of their deposition. The nature and kind of case property articles required to be produced in any given criminal case differs from case to case. In case of hurt or murder it is usually the weapon of offence which forms an important part of the case property. The recovery of certain immovable articles such as cash, documents or jewellery may form a part of case property articles in the cases of robbery, dacoity or theft etc. In road accident cases the cas....
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....A IPC the istridhan articles of the complainant which usually comprises of double bed, dressing table, almirah, TV, fridge etc. are seized by the police and even if ordered to be released to the complainant on sapurdari are often produced by them in the court after getting them loaded in a truck. This kind of exercise poses a great deal of inconvenience to the sapurdar and also leads to considerable delay and raising of unnecessary objections by the defence by putting unnecessary questions about the condition of the case property articles so produced. In cases where cash is recovered there have been many instances where either the cash was ordered to be kept in the police Malkhana or even if released to any person on sapurdari was ordered to be produced in the court on each and every date. Even in the Malkhana of the police stations keeping of cash is not safe and there have been many instances where currency notes have got stolen. As regards the private individuals to whom the cash or jewellery articles etc. are released the situation is equally difficult, for they are not only supposed to keep the same currency notes intact and also to produce them on each and e....
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....cles. After retaining the sample bottle and taking of photographs besides the preparation of inventory as above the case property should be ordered to be disposed of. JEWELLERY ARTICLES As regards the jewellery articles and such other valuable articles the photographs of the same should be taken before their release to the sapurdar. An inventory of the Articles should also be prepared wherever necessary the court may also get the said jewellery articles valued from a Government approved valuer. Thus, during the course of trial the actual production of the jewellery articles should not be insisted upon and the photographs along with inventory so prepared should suffice for the purposes of evidence. CURRENCY NOTES In respect of the currency notes recovered, if in the opinion of the court, any person is lawfully entitled to claim them then they should be released to such person. In the other eventuality money can be ordered to be deposited in a nationalized bank. However, before releasing it to a private person or getting it deposited with a nationalized bank the Photostat of all such currency notes can be obtained with their numbers noted ....
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....esses but will also help in removing the various problems being faced by the police stations in maintaining their Malkhana. This, will also reduce the expenses being routinely claimed by the MHC(M) with respect to the production of case property articles. The courts whenever deem necessary may also ask for an indemnity bond from the superdar." 36. On 24th October, 2013, the copy of the aforesaid report was sent by the Registrar General of this Court to all the District and Sessions Judges who circulated the same to all the judicial officers for applying the suggestions of the report in all cases relating to the properties seized by the police. The relevant portion of the letter dated 24th October, 2013 is reproduced hereunder:- "Sub: Issues relating to production/non-production of case property. Sir, As directed by Hon'ble the Chief Justice and his companion Judges, I am forwarding herewith a copy of the relevant portion of the report of a Committee constituted to look into the matter regarding service of summons in criminal matters. The said portion deals with how the various types of case property articles seized by the police during the inv....
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....he law declared by the highest Court in the State and initiate proceedings in direct violation of the law so declared under Art. 215, every High Court shall be a Court of record and shall have all the powers of such a Court including the power to punish for contempt of itself. Under Art. 226, it has plenary power to issue orders or writs for the enforcement of the fundamental rights and for any other purpose to any person or authority including inappropriate cases any Govt. within its territorial jurisdiction. Under Art. 227 it has jurisdiction over all Courts and tribunals throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction. It would be anomalous to suggest that a tribunal over which the High Court has superintendence can ignore the law declared by that Court and start proceedings in direct violation of it. If a tribunal can do so, all the subordinate Courts can equally do so, for there is no specific provision, just like in the case of Supreme Court, making the law declared by the High Court binding on subordinate Courts. It is implicit in the power of supervision conferred on a superior tribunal that all the tribunals subject to its supervision should confo....
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....within the purview of the law of Contempt. Just as the disobedience to a specific order of the Court undermines the authority and dignity of the court in a particular case, similarly the deliberate and mala fide conduct of not following the law laid down in the previous decision undermines the constitutional authority and respect of the High Court. Indeed, while the former conduct has repercussions on an individual case and on a limited number of persons, the latter conduct has a much wider and more disastrous impact. It is calculated not only to undermine the constitutional authority and respect of the High Court, generally, but is also likely to subvert the Rule of Law and engender harassing uncertainty and confusion in the administration of law" (Emphasis supplied) 43. In Re: M.P. Dwivedi, (1996) 4 SCC 152, the Supreme Court held as under:- "22. ... It appears that the contemner was completely insensitive about the serious violations of the human rights of the undertrial prisoners in the matter of their handcuffing inasmuch as when the prisoners were produced before him in court in handcuffs, he did not think it necessary to take any action for the removal of hand....
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.... Judiciary is the guardian of the rule of law. If the judiciary is to perform its duties and functions effectively and remain true to the spirit with which they are sacredly entrusted, the dignity and authority of the courts have to be respected and protected at all costs... xxx xxx xxx 29. Lethargy, ignorance, official delays and absence of motivation can hardly be offered as any defence in an action for contempt. Inordinate delay in complying with the orders of the courts has also received judicial criticism. ... Inaction or even dormant behaviour by the officers in the highest echelons in the hierarchy of the Government in complying with the directions/orders of this Court certainly amounts to disobedience. ... Even a lackadaisical attitude, which itself may not be deliberate or wilful, have not been held to be a sufficient ground of defence in a contempt proceeding. Obviously, the purpose is to ensure compliance with the orders of the court at the earliest and within stipulated period." (Emphasis supplied) 46. In Priya Gupta v. Addl. Secy. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and others, (2013) 11 SCC 404, the Supreme Court held as under:- "12. The g....
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....icable, but even impossible to regulate such orders of the court, is an argument which does not impress the court. As already noticed, the Constitution has placed upon the judiciary, the responsibility to interpret the law and ensure proper administration of justice. In carrying out these constitutional functions, the courts have to ensure that dignity of the court, process of court and respect for administration of justice is maintained. Violations which are likely to impinge upon the faith of the public in administration of justice and the court system must be punished, to prevent repetition of such behaviour and the adverse impact on public faith. With the development of law, the courts have issued directions and even spelt out in their judgments, certain guidelines, which are to be operative till proper legislations are enacted. The directions of the court which are to provide transparency in action and adherence to basic law and fair play must be enforced and obeyed by all concerned. The law declared by this Court whether in the form of a substantive judgment inter se a party or are directions of a general nature which are intended to achieve the constitutional goals of equali....
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....aid down by the High Court must be followed by all authorities and subordinate tribunals when it has been declared by the highest Court in the State and they cannot ignore it either in initiating proceedings or deciding on the rights involved in such a proceeding; (3) If in spite of the earlier exposition of law by the High Court having been pointed out and attention being pointedly drawn to that legal position, in utter disregard of that position, proceedings are initiated, it must be held to be a wilful disregard of the law laid down by the High Court and would amount to civil contempt as defined in section 2(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971." (Emphasis supplied) 49. In C.T. Subbarayappa v. University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, (1998) 5 Kant LJ 263, the Karnataka High Court held as under: "8. It was expected that after declaration of the law by this Court regarding powers of the Board of Regents visa-vis the recommendations of the Selection Committee based on merits, the Board will function in accordance with the Constitutional mandates and the requirements of law, but it seems the members of the Board had hardly any regard for the ru....
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....should consider extending the principle of law declared across the board to all so that others are not forced in litigation, it is expected that the bureaucrat applies himself properly and does not foist litigation on the others. 9. The note extracted herein above says that the Ministry of Finance has agreed to extend the implementation of the Court judgment to only those applicants who approach the Court and not the others. 10. The decision creates an artificial distinction not recognized by law for the reason it would be arbitrary to say that law means A for those who go to the Court, and it means B for those who do not. 11. While disposing of the writ petition and directing the respondents to treat the mandamus issued vide order dated 9.10.2009 passed in WP (C) No. 12258/2009 as the mandamus issued in the instant writ petition, we censure Sh. Pritam Lal, Under Secretary, (Pr-V), Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs and direct that a copy of this decision would be placed in his service book and as and when his case is placed before a Departmental Promotion Committee, it be highlighted that this Court has censured Sh. Pritam La....
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....gn immunity has no application in respect of the compensation cases under Motor Vehicles Act. Taking note of Baradakanta Mishra (supra), this Court issued a notice to the Attorney General to look into the matter and consider the implication of the government refusing to follow the well-settled law. Relevant portion of the said order is reproduced hereunder:- "34. If the Executive does not follow the certain well settled law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, it shall create confusion in the administration of justice and undermine the law laid down by the Apex Court and shall impair the constitutional authority of the Apex Court. The disobedience of the law laid down by the Court shall also amount to contempt of Court. xxx xxx xxx 36. Before passing any further order in this matter, this Court would like the learned Attorney General to personally look into the matter and consider the implication of Government raising the plea of sovereign immunity in claims under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 despite clear and well settled law by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. The learned Attorney General shall ascertain the number of pending motor accident claim cases i....
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....r Social Welfare and Tribunal Development Deptt. Sachivalaya (supra), C.T. Subbarayappa (supra), Parmal Singh (supra), Ex-CT Nardev (supra) and Head of Department, Air Force Station Amla." Summary of principles of law The following principles emerge from the above judgments: 54. The properties seized by the police during investigation or trial have to be produced before the competent Court within one week of the seizure and the Court has to expeditiously pass an order for its custody in terms of the directions of the Supreme Court in Basavva Kom Dyamangouda Patil v. State of Mysore (supra), Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat (supra 1), Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat (supra 2) and General Insurance Council v. State of A.P. (supra). 55. The Court has to ensure that the property seized by the police should not be retained in the custody of the Court or of the police for any time longer than what is absolutely necessary and in any case, for not more than one month. 56. If the property is subject to speedy and natural decay or if it is otherwise expedient to do so, the Court may, after recording such evidence as it thinks necessary, order it to be ....
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....r preparing detailed panchnama of the currency notes with their numbers or denomination; taking photographs of the currency notes; and taking a security bond. 66. The photographs of such currency notes should be attested or countersigned by the complainant, accused as well as by the person to whom the custody is handed over and memo of the proceedings be prepared which must be signed by the parties and witnesses. 67. The production of the currency notes during the course of the trial should not be insisted upon and the releasee should be permitted to use the currency. Vehicles 68. Vehicles involved in an offence may be released to the rightful owner after preparing detailed panchnama; taking photographs of the vehicle; valuation report; and a security bond. 69. The photographs of the vehicle should be attested and countersigned by the complainant, accused as well as by the person to whom the custody is handed over. 70. The production of the vehicle should not be insisted upon during the trial. The panchnama and photographs along with the valuation report should suffice for the purposes of evidence. 71. Return of vehicles and permission for sale thereof should b....
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....52 Cr.P.C. for the disposal by destruction, confiscation or delivery to any person claiming to be entitled for possession thereof or otherwise. 81. For delivery of any property to any person claiming to be entitled thereto, the Court may release the property unconditionally or impose a condition of a bond with or without sureties to restore such property to the Court upon modification/setting aside of the order in appeal or revision. 82. The aforesaid order shall not be carried out for a period of two months or when an appeal is presented, until disposal of the appeal except in case of live stock or property subject to speedy and natural decay. Unclaimed properties 83. If no person establishes his claim to case property within six months or the person in whose possession such property was found is unable to show that he legally acquired the same, the Magistrate may order sale of the property by the State Government under Section 458 Cr.P.C. Loss/theft/destruction of the case property in police custody 84. Where the seized property is stolen, lost or destroyed and there is no prima facie defence made out that the State or its officers had taken due care and caution....
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.... the property is handed over to the claimant. In the event of the original of the property not produced in the evidence, photograph could be used as secondary evidence during the course of evidence. Ultimately, while passing final orders, it is only the value of the property that becomes a prime concern for the Court. If a person to whom the interim custody is granted, is not entitled to the property or its value and if some other person is held to be entitled to have the property or its value by taking necessary bonds and security from the person to whom interim custody is granted, the value could be recovered and made payable to the person entitled to. Responsibility of the High Court Registry to ensure the compliance of the directions of the Supreme Court by the Courts below as well as police 91. In Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat, (supra 1) (para 21), the Supreme Court has directed that the Registry of the High Courts to ensure that the powers under Section 451 Cr.P.C. are being properly and promptly exercised by the Magistrates. Responsibility of the Commissioner of Delhi Police to check the compliance by police stations 92. In General Insurance Counci....
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.... cases in which the applications could not be filed within the prescribed period along with the explanation thereof. The Registrar General shall consider the reports and ensure the compliance of the directions issued by the Supreme Court. The compliance reports be filed by the police officers made responsible by the Supreme Court in para 14 of General Insurance Council v. State of A.P.(supra). 97. The Courts below shall also file a quarterly report through their District & Sessions Judge before the Registrar General containing the particulars of the cases in which the appropriate order has been passed within one month of the application. If any case could not be disposed of within 30 days, particulars thereof along with the reasons be also submitted. The first compliance report for the period 1st October, 2014 to 31st December, 2014 be filed by 15th January, 2015. 98. With respect to the submission of Delhi Police that the District Nazir is not equipped to deal with the order with respect to the sale/auction of the case properties and therefore, Provisioning & Logistics Department of Delhi Police be allowed to deal with the sale/auction of the case properties, it would be app....