LALIT KISHORE Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner has preferred the present criminal misc. petition under Sec. 482 Cr.P.C. seeking to set aside the additional condition of furnishing a bank guarantee of Rs.6.00 lac, apart from furnishing 'Supurdginama' and 'Jamanatnama' for the same worth imposed by the Additional Sessions Judge No. 4 Kota while allowing the Criminal Revision Petition No.148/2023 with other conditions incorporated therein, to release the petitioner's vehicle being Creta Car RJ-20-CF-9932 seized in FIR No.(*) 212/2022 registered at Police Station Gumanpura, Kota for offences under Ss. 420, 406, 120-B, 467, 468 and 471 IPC and Ss. 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. The order dtd. 25/5/2023 has been put to challenge only to the extent of imposing the condition to furnish the bank guarantee.

(2.) It has been submitted that the petitioner is registered owner of the vehicle 'Creta Car' which was seized by the police while registering the afore-referred FIR and after submission of chargesheet, petitioner moved an application to release the vehicle but the same was dismissed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate No.5, Kota vide order dtd. 17/1/2023 with observation that the vehicle in question was purchased by funds of Investors and has been seized as an evidence in the criminal case.

(3.) Petitioner challenged the order dtd. 17/1/2023 by way of filing Criminal Revision Petition No.148/2023. The Revisional Court being Additional Sessions Judge No.4, Kota has set aside the order dtd. 17/1/2023 and observed that prima facie, it appears that the vehicle in question was purchased by the petitioner from the loan amount taken from the State Bank of India and it is a matter of evidence that any amount of Investors was used to purchase the vehicle. The revisional Court observed that obviously the vehicle would be damaged, as also its utility would be deteriorated with the passage of time, if same is allowed to continue to be seized during the course of trial, therefore, following the ratio decidendi expounded by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in case of Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai V. State of Gujarat [(2002) 10 SCC 283], allowed to release the vehicle to the petitioner on terms and conditions as indicated in the order dtd. 25/5/2023. The revisional Court apart from other conditions to furnish 'Supurdginama' and 'Jamanatnama' by the petitioner to the tune of Rs.6.00 lac, also directed the petitioner to furnish a bank guarantee to the tune of Rs.6.00 lac.