Last Updated on April 30, 2020 by Legalseva.net
Superdari or Sapurdarican be understood as the clearance or disposal of property to the person who is authorized for custody of property on surety bond that he/she may produce the property before the court whenever asked for. Superdari deals with disposal of property which is in relation with some offence and has been confiscated by the Police for further investigation purposes. Superdari of vehicle is usually read with the Section 451 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. Section 451 of the Code talks about disposal of goods and property which are under trial and their order is still pending. The section makes it clear that when a property or vehicle comes before the Court for the purpose of inquiry or trial, the court should pass certain temporary order with regard to the custody and possession of that property till the trials are complete. Especially, in cases where the property is subject to degeneration, then the court should return the property to the entitled person after collecting the primary evidences with regard to the property.
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Under this section any person can attain the custody and disposal of the property as the Court may deem fit and through the provision of Superdari along with the assurance of surety bond. Under certain cases where the property is one of the chief reasons of dispute, the court might order the entitled person to bring the property before the Court for some evidential purposes even after granting custody.
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Meaning of Superdari
As mentioned above Superdari is handing over of the disputed property in the hands of person from who’s safekeeping the property was taken away, for a brief time period till the trials are completed and final order is decided by the Court. The order with regard to Superdari can be passed by the Magistrate only. The police can advance its investigations only after the order is passed by the Magistrate. In one of the leading cases of Balbir Singh v. Commissioner of Income-Tax, Superdari was used as a measure to retrieve the money from the accused party. It is basically a way of keeping the property in safe hands which the Court may entrust upon.
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The person entrusted with the property has certain restrictions too which are subject to the terms and conditions decided by the court and may vary from case to case. Same is the case with vehicle too, the person getting the vehicle will have to give an undertaking for the same stating that he/she will produce the vehicle before the police or Court whenever asked so. The undertaking also guarantees that the authorized person has taken the complete liability of the property till the completion of trials and passing of final order. After the person has provided the Court with the surety bond and the order for release is passed, then one can collect the copy of the order and present it before the police for receiving the possession of the property. The surety bond is made on non-judicial stamp paper of Rs.100.
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PROCESS OF FILING THE APPLICATION OF RELEASE OF VEHICLE
Whenever any property or vehicle is involved in any criminal case, the particular vehicle is often taken under the possession of the Police or Court for investigation grounds. The vehicle is usually let out to the owner of the vehicle or to the person who is authorized for the custody and possession of the vehicle for an interim period. Hence, during the investigation police collects the property or vehicle is dispute and relevant to the case and keeps the same in the Malkhana.
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The owner of the vehicle can seek the release of his property from the Court by filing an application in the Court and the court may release the property, but the owner has to abide by the terms and conditions imposed and give an undertaking also. After the court is provided with the undertaking, the court may give a temporary order with respect to the custody and possession of the property as per the section 451 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. The procedure for release of the vehicle is as follows:
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The advocate will have to file an application for seeking the release of vehicle by Superdari accompanied with all necessary documents. The documents to be submitted are as follows:
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Vakalatnama
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Copies of documents pertaining to title of the property along with the original, in case the court asks for the original copy for reference
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Identity cards of the owner including the driving license
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Superdari bond (the owner can permit any other person also on his behalf to file an application for release of the vehicle) Also Read- Will your car or bike be impounded by police if you go out during lockdown?
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The court will look into the application and impose certain terms and conditions, and ask you to supply a Superdari bond (an undertaking to be delivered on non-judicial stamp paper of Rs. 100)
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Once the Superdari bond is admitted in the court, an order is passed for letting out of the vehicle by the court.
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The person has to then take the dash copy of the order and present it before the Malkhana Munshi of police station as proof where the confiscated vehicle is kept.
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The impounded vehicle is released and the person entitled should abide by the conditions of order and do not meddle or amend the vehicle till the trial ends.
Also Read- SUPERDARI OF CAR
Lastly, it can be concluded that the major reason behind allotting the custody of the property or vehicle to the owner can be witnessed in the case of Sundarbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat AIR 2003 SC 638, the Supreme Court laid down certain principles and guidelines that the court should keep in mind while allowing the release of property and clearly stated that the court should follow the procedures mentioned under Section 451 of CrPC. It also stated that it is necessary to take bond and security from the owner or entitled person so as to make the person accountable for the possession of the property in case the evidence is lost, altered or destroyed. The documents presented by the owner should be well attested and signed by the complainant, accused and the person to whom the custody is being handed over. Therefore, the court should be vigilant and should take all the necessary steps as it may deem fit as per the case.
Also Read- HOW TO GET YOUR VEHICLE RELEASED PENDING TRIAL- SUPERDARI
For case specific advice, please contact SUPERDARI VEHICLE RELEASE LAWYERS ADVOCATE Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali Kharar Derabassi Zirakpur Baltana Mullanpur from Police Custody.
