The Supreme Court has directed the Trial Court to release the vehicle of an Advocate in an NDPS Act case and further clarified that even if a vehicle was deemed liable for confiscation, the owner had to be given a hearing, and confiscation was not justified if the owner proved that the vehicle had been used without their knowledge or connivance and that they had taken all reasonable precautions to prevent such use. The Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan held, “…even where the Court is of the view that the vehicle is liable for confiscation, it must give an opportunity of hearing to the person who may claim any right to the seized vehicle before passing an order of confiscation.

However, the seized vehicle is not liable to confiscation if the owner of the seized vehicle can prove that the vehicle was used by the accused person without the owner’s knowledge or connivance and that he had taken all reasonable precautions against such use of the seized vehicle by the accused person.”

View the full article HERE- https://www.verdictum.in/court-updates/supreme-court/seized-vehicle-ndps-act-452-crpc-interim-release-tarun-kumar-majhi-v-state-of-west-bengal-1571398