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2023 (4) TMI 1004 - HC - Income TaxRelease / return of Seized currency to the petitioner - currency notes recovered by the police under Section 102 Cr.P.C. - unexplained and unaccounted cash - discloser of currency / income in the ITR - HELD THAT:- As per the legislative intent of Section 451 Cr.P.C., the property means any property regarding which an offence appears to have been committed or which appears to have been used for the commission of any offence, and therefore, the release of vehicle/article/currency notes under Section 451 Cr.P.C. cannot be restricted merely on account of the fact that they were used for commission of any offence. In the aforecited precedent law, the Hon'ble Apex Court [2002 (10) TMI 773 - SUPREME COURT] has held that the court should pass appropriate orders immediately and the articles should not be kept for a long time at the police station, and the procedure for disposal of the seized valuable articles, currency notes, vehicles, seized liquor and narcotic drugs has been laid down therein. In the present case, currency of Rs.47 lacs were recovered by the Police under Section 102 Cr.P.C. way back on 09.10.2018 and still the matter is at the initial stage of the trial and the currency in dispute is lying in the Police Station. Present misc. petition is allowed. The impugned orders passed by the courts below refusing to hand over the seized currency to the petitioner, are hereby quashed and set aside. The seized currency of Rs.47 lacs is ordered to be released in favour of the petitioner on ‘supurdgi’ subject to the conditions that the petitioner shall furnish a bank guarantee of Rs.10 lacs in favour of the respondent-Income Tax Department, initially for a period of one year and which shall be renewed by the petitioner till completion of proceeding of tax assessment over the seized currency of Rs.47 lacs, by the respondent-Income Tax Department. Upon completion of proceedings of tax assessment, the respondent Income Tax Department shall be at liberty to recover tax from the bank guarantee as submitted by the petitioner.
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