Sainul Abid vs The District Collector Kozhikode, Pin-673 301, The Revenue Divisional Officer Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kozhikode, Pin-673 301 and The Sub Inspector of Police Mukkom Police Station, Kozhikode District Pin-673 642

Surendra Mohan, J.—Since common questions are raised in these three writ petitions, they are disposed of together. The petitioners in these writ petitions are all owners of lorries. Their lorries have been detained by the authorities on the allegation that they were guilty of offences under the Kerala Protection of River Bank and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act 2001 (''the Act'' for short). The petitioners complain that though their vehicles are kept under detention, the seized vehicle or report has not been produced before the concerned Judicial Magistrate as required by the Code of Criminal Procedure. Nor have the vehicles been produced before the said Magistrate. Consequently, the petitioners have been denied an opportunity to seek an interim custody of their vehicles. The vehicles are getting damaged with the passage of time, since they are not properly taken care of. The petitioners, therefore, seek the issue of appropriate orders for compliance with the provisions of law.

The learned counsel for the petitioners has placed reliance on the judgment of this court in W.P.(C) No. 34939/2011 and connected cases, wherein a Division Bench of this court has ordered as follows; "13. Therefore, in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, it is hereby ordered that the revenue and police authorities, while effecting seizure, shall ensure that any revenue officials effecting the seizure, notifies such seizure, also to a police official, over and above the requirement in section 22 of the Act and the Rules. That police officials may effect seizure of those goods and report such seizure to the jurisdictional Magistrate in accordance with law and any police officer effecting seizure shall, apart from reporting any such seizure to the jurisdictional Magistrate, also place a report of such seizure before the concerned revenue authority so that action can follow through the criminal court and through the revenue authority in terms of the laws. Following the aforesaid, it is further ordered that in all pending cases, the competent police officer shall effect seizure and report the same to the jurisdictional Magistrate, if not already done and the competent revenue authority shall make appropriate complaint to the jurisdictional Magistrate at the earliest. This would also enable the owners of the goods or vehicles to apply for interim custody in terms of Section 451 or 457 Crl. P.C. as the case may be. In ordering release, the judicial Magistrate shall be guided by the terms laid down by the Full Bench of this Court in Shan Vs. State of Kerala, . The appropriate authorities shall also file complaints for initiating prosecution in all cases, where offences under the Act are disclosed. These directions shall apply in dealing with sand and vehicles, seized by the police or revenue authority under the provisions of the Act or the Code of Criminal Procedure, over and above the directions in Moosakoya (supra) and Shoukathali (supra), until appropriate legislative provisions are brought in which event, we hope, shall come at the earliest."

In view of the above directions issued by the Division Bench of this court, these writ petitions are disposed of in terms of the above directions. The vehicles in these cases shall be produced before the jurisdictional Magistrate, as expeditiously as possible and at any rate, within a period of ten days from today.