Sections 497 and 498, BNSS 2023 — the substance

Section 497. When any property is produced before any Criminal Court during an inquiry or trial, the Court may make such order as it thinks fit for the proper custody of such property pending the conclusion of the inquiry or trial; and if the property is subject to speedy or natural decay, or if it is otherwise expedient so to do, the Court may, after recording such evidence as it thinks necessary, order it to be sold or otherwise disposed of.

Section 498(1). When an inquiry or trial in any Criminal Court is concluded, the Court may make such order as it thinks fit for the disposal, by destruction, confiscation or delivery to any person claiming to be entitled to possession thereof or otherwise, of any property or document produced before it or in its custody, or regarding which any offence appears to have been committed, or which has been used for the commission of any offence.

📖 Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat, (2002) 10 SCC 283

Facts: The Court was required to consider the widespread practice of retaining seized articles — vehicles, valuables, currency, household goods — in police stations and court malkhanas for years pending trial, with the result that they deteriorated, lost their value, and were often rendered useless by the time the case concluded.

Held: The Supreme Court held that the powers under the provisions corresponding to sections 497 and 503 should be exercised expeditiously and judiciously, and that it serves no purpose to keep seized articles in police custody for long periods. It directed that where an article is seized, the Magistrate should pass an appropriate order for its interim custody without waiting to be moved, and laid down the practice to be followed: the Court should require a photograph of the article to be taken and duly attested, and a detailed panchnama prepared, so that those documents may be received in evidence in place of the article and the article itself need not be produced at the trial. The article should then be handed over to the person entitled to possession, on a bond with an undertaking to produce it when required and not to part with it or alter it, security being taken where the value is substantial. The Court dealt specifically with vehicles, holding that they should be released without delay, since leaving them to deteriorate in police stations benefits nobody and destroys property which may belong to an innocent person.

Ratio: Seized articles should not be kept in police custody for long periods. The Court should require a photograph and a detailed panchnama, receive those in evidence in place of the article, and release it to the person entitled to possession on a bond — vehicles in particular being released without delay.

📖 General Insurance Council v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (2010) 6 SCC 768

Facts: Very large numbers of vehicles seized in connection with criminal cases were lying in police stations across the country, deteriorating and in many cases becoming valueless, the insurers who had paid claims on them being unable to recover or dispose of them.

Held: The Supreme Court held that the practice of retaining seized vehicles in police stations was causing enormous loss to the owners, to insurers and to the public, and served no purpose connected with the trial once the necessary evidentiary record had been made. The Court directed that all States and Union Territories ensure that police officers record a full description of a seized vehicle at the time of seizure, including its registration and engine and chassis numbers and its make, colour and condition, and that a photograph be taken; and that thereafter the vehicle be released to the person entitled to its possession on an appropriate bond and security, so that it does not remain in police custody. It emphasised that the Magistrate should act promptly on the report of seizure and that the exercise should not await an application, since the very persons entitled are frequently unaware of the procedure.

Ratio: Retaining seized vehicles in police stations causes enormous loss and serves no purpose connected with the trial once the evidentiary record has been made. A full description and photograph should be recorded and the vehicle released on bond and security.

⚠ The practice in five steps

The seizure is reported. Section 503 requires the officer to forthwith report the seizure to the Magistrate, who may make such order as he thinks fit for its custody and production.

The record is made. A photograph of the article, duly attested; a detailed panchnama; and, for a vehicle, a full description including registration, engine and chassis numbers, make, colour and condition.

The article is released on supurdari. To the person entitled to possession, on a bond with an undertaking to produce it when required and not to part with it or alter it, with security where the value is substantial.

The documents go in evidence. The photograph and the panchnama are received in evidence in place of the article, which need not be produced at the trial.

And at the conclusion, section 498 operates. The Court makes such order as it thinks fit for destruction, confiscation or delivery to the person entitled — with an appeal under section 500 to the person aggrieved.

The position stated shortly

1. Section 497: where property is produced before a Criminal Court during an inquiry or trial, the Court may order its proper custody pending the conclusion, and may order it sold or disposed of where it is subject to speedy or natural decay or where it is otherwise expedient.

2. Section 498: at the conclusion of the inquiry or trial, the Court may order destruction, confiscation, or delivery to any person claiming to be entitled to possession.

3. Section 499: money found on a person convicted of theft or receiving stolen property may be delivered to an innocent purchaser of that property.

4. Section 500 gives an appeal against an order under section 498 or 499.

5. Section 501: destruction of obscene or defamatory matter on conviction. Section 502: restoration of possession of immovable property where dispossession was attended by criminal force, show of force or criminal intimidation.

6. Section 503: the police officer shall forthwith report the seizure to the Magistrate, who may order its custody and production.

7. Sections 504 and 505: disposal where no claimant appears within six months, and the power to sell perishable property at once.

8. Seized articles should not be kept in police custody for long periods. The Court should act expeditiously and without waiting to be moved: Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai.

9. A photograph and a detailed panchnama should be taken and received in evidence in place of the article, which need not be produced at the trial — and the article released on a bond with an undertaking to produce it.

10. Vehicles in particular should be released without delay, a full description and photograph having been recorded, since retaining them causes enormous loss and serves no purpose connected with the trial: General Insurance Council.