Officers cannot confiscate vehicles involved in offences under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937, without issuing notice to owners and giving them an opportunity to make a written representation, the Madras High Court Bench here has held.
Justice P.R. Shivakumar gave the ruling on a criminal revision petition filed by the owner of a luxury car used to transport 12 bottles, each with a capacity of 750 ml of brandy, without licence from Puducherry to Thanjavur on March 22.
After seizing the bottles and remanding the owner, the Additional Superintendent of Police (Prohibition Wing), Thanjavur, passed an order on April 1, 2014, confiscating the car and served it on the petitioner in prison after three days.
The petitioner challenged the confiscation before the Principal Sessions Court at Thanjavur, saying the principles of natural justice were not followed. But the Sessions Court dismissed the plea on September 11.
Holding that the confiscation order as well as the lower court order were liable to be set aside, Mr. Justice Shivakumar said: “The glaring defects which go to the root of the case have not caught the attention of the sessions judge, who proved to be inferior to the prohibition officer in exhibiting arbitrariness.”
The judge said that a proviso to Section 14 of the Prohibition Act stated that officials must issue notice to the owners before confiscating their vehicles and give them a maximum of 14 days to make a written representation. Thereafter, a reasonable opportunity should also be given to the owners to represent their case in person.