Mumbai: In a significant ruling, a full
bench of Bombay High Court on Monday held that police do not have
powers to seize immovable property on the suspicion that it is
related to commission of offence.
Only movable property can be seized under section 102 of
criminal procedure code, was the majority view of the bench of
Justices B H Marlapalle, Roshan Dalvi, and R C Chavan which
pronounced the ruling today.
The issue had been referred to the full bench
(three-member bench) by division bench headed by Justice
Ranjana Desai, as there were two conflicting earlier rulings.
The section 102 of CrPC says that a police officer can
seize "any property" which is suspected or alleged to be
stolen, or is found in the "circumstances which create
suspicion of commission of an offence".
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 00:50