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Magistrate must hold inquiry under Sec 202 CrPC before summoning outstation accused: J&K High Court

Vehicles seized under NDPS Act cannot be left to rot in police stations: JK High Court

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that vehicles seized under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cannot be left parked in the open premises of police stations to deteriorate during a trial.

Justice M A Chowdhary ruled that because the anti-narcotics legislation contains no specific provision restricting interim custody, special courts can seamlessly invoke their general power under Section 497 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, to return a seized conveyance to its registered owner.

“This court takes judicial notice that vehicles in police custody are stored in the open. Consequently, if the vehicle is not released during the trial, it will be wasted and suffering the vagaries of the weather, its value will only reduce… There is no specific bar or restriction under the provisions of the NDPS Act for return of any seized vehicle used for transporting narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, in the interim, pending disposal of the criminal case,” the Court observed.
Mahmood Shaad for the petitioner.