Allowed

Sambhu Prasad Singh v. The State of Bihar

Patna HC1 Oct 2024L.P.A/686/2023

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

In Letters Patent Appeal No.686 of 2023, the Patna High Court allowed the appeal against the seizure of a vehicle under Section 6(A) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, holding that since the show cause notice pertained only to the fertilizer, the vehicle could not be confiscated and must be released or refunded

What did the court decide?

The vehicle to be released to the appellant if not auctioned, and refunded if auctioned, within three months from the date of this order.

Sambhu Prasad Singh Vs The State of Bihar — Constitutional and Fundamental Rights | Patna HC (2024)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

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Letters Patent Appeal No.686 of 2023

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Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.17491 of 2022

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Sambhu Prasad Singh S/o Mokhtar Singh, Resident of Village-Bihat, Ward NO. 17, P.s.-Baruni, District-Begusarai.

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... ... Appellant/s

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Versus

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The State of Bihar through Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Vikas Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna.

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The Collector-cum-District Magistrate, Supaul.

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The District Agriculture Officer, Supaul.

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The Assistant Director, Plant Conservation, Supaul.

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The S.H.O. Birpur Police Station, District-Supaul.

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... ... Respondent/s

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Appearance :

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For the Appellant/s : Mr. N.K.Agrawal, Sr. Advocate Mr. Vijay Anand, Advocate Mr. Dhananjaya Nath Tiwari, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Ms. Diska Kumari, Advocate

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CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PARTHA SARTHY ORAL ORDER

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(Per: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE)

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3 01-10-2024 The petitioner is concerned with the seizure of a vehicle under section 6(A) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Before the learned Single Judge the contention raised was that there was no show cause notice regarding seizure of the

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Patna High Court L.P.A No.686 of 2023(3) dt.01-10-2024 2/3

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vehicle and the show cause notice only threatened seizure of the seized fertilizer ( japt urbarak ). The learned Single Judge extracted section 6(A) and found that there is a provision for confiscation of vehicle in which the commodity is carried, as per the above provision.

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We do not find any reason to doubt the finding of the learned Single Judge that section 6(A) has a provision for seizure of a vehicle also, which is available under clause (c), if an essential commodity seized is within the vehicle. The learned Single Judge rejected the prayer on the ground that there is sufficient power available to the Collector to seize the vehicle. However, the specific contention taken by the petitioner is that the show cause notice did not propose confiscation of the vehicle and it only proposed confiscation of the fertilizer. We see from Annexure-3 that the show cause notice was issued only for the purpose of confiscation of the seized fertilizer ( japt urbarak).

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In such circumstances there could not have been a confiscation of the vehicle. The vehicle if not auctioned shall be released to the appellant and if auctioned, the amount received shall be refunded to the appellant.

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The appeal stands allowed.

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Patna High Court L.P.A No.686 of 2023(3) dt.01-10-2024 3/3

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The release or refund shall be made within a period

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of three months from the date of uploading of this order.

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(K. Vinod Chandran, CJ)

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Bibhash U

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( Partha Sarthy, J)

Sambhu Prasad Singh v. The State of Bihar

Case brief

What is this about?

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Sambhu Prasad Singh v. The State of Bihar

Case brief

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