Jodhpur:<\/strong> The Rajasthan High Court has delivered an important ruling on the release of vehicles seized in cases of illegal mining and illegal transportation of minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu dismissed 72 petitions challenging orders of lower courts that had refused to release the seized vehicles, ruling that the vehicles cannot be released merely on bail, personal bond or custody once the prescribed attachment proceedings have begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Payment of the value of the mineral<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prescribed compounding fee<\/p>\n\n\n\n Environmental compensation or penalty under NGT orders<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court also clarified that criminal proceedings and attachment proceedings are separate, and the pendency of a criminal case does not automatically entitle the vehicle owner to get the vehicle back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The High Court examined the provisions of the Rajasthan Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2017, concerning vehicles used in illegal mining and illegal transportation of minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court held that once attachment proceedings have started, a seized vehicle cannot be released merely on the basis of a personal bond or custody. The required amount under the rules must be deposited before the vehicle can be released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The liabilities may include the value of the illegally mined or transported mineral, the prescribed compounding fee and environmental compensation or penalty applicable under NGT orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court rejected the argument that a vehicle should be released because the criminal case against its owner is still pending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It clarified that criminal proceedings and attachment proceedings operate independently. A pending criminal case does not prevent the authorities from continuing attachment proceedings against the seized vehicle under the relevant mining rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court also made it clear that the release of a vehicle cannot be separated from the financial liabilities arising from the illegal mining activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vehicles involved in the 72 petitions had been seized in different cases by the police as well as the Mining Department. Several cases also involved criminal proceedings for illegal mining and illegal transportation of minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the High Court held that the identity of the agency that seized the vehicle does not change the applicable legal process. The vehicle remains subject to the relevant provisions governing seizure and attachment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The High Court also considered the environmental consequences of illegal mining and referred to earlier Supreme Court orders stressing the need for strict action against such activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court observed that releasing vehicles used in illegal mining on minor conditions could weaken the objective of preventing such illegal activities. It also noted that in some cases, vehicles had previously been involved in illegal mining or illegal transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The High Court referred to its earlier decisions and reiterated that once attachment proceedings have commenced, vehicles cannot ordinarily be released merely on a personal bond or custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, where attachment proceedings have not yet started, the concerned court may impose conditions such as a bank guarantee to ensure recovery of any amount that may subsequently become payable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accordingly, the High Court refused to interfere with the lower courts\u2019 orders where the required statutory financial conditions had not been fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The High Court finally clarified that dismissal of the 72 petitions does not mean that the related criminal cases have ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pending criminal proceedings will continue according to law, while attachment proceedings concerning the vehicles may also proceed separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, the ruling is limited to the release of the seized vehicles and does not determine the final outcome of the underlying criminal cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 72 Petitions Dismissed; Mineral Value, Compounding Fee and Environmental Compensation Must Be Paid for Vehicle Release Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court has delivered an important ruling on the release of vehicles seized in cases of illegal mining and illegal transportation of minerals. Justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu dismissed 72 petitions challenging orders of lower courts that … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wppp_is_locked":false,"_wppp_selected_plans":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,69],"tags":[2437,2438,1637,2442,1508,2439,339,1659,2443,2434,915,659,43,150,2441,2440,2435,2436],"class_list":["post-9477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","category-rajasthan-high-court","tag-attachment-proceedings","tag-compounding-fee","tag-criminal-proceedings","tag-environmental-compensation","tag-illegal-mining","tag-illegal-transportation","tag-jodhpur-bench","tag-justice-baljinder-singh-sandhu","tag-mineral-value","tag-mining-cases","tag-ngt","tag-rajasthan-hc","tag-rajasthan-high-court","tag-rajasthan-legal-news","tag-rajasthan-mining-rules","tag-rajasthan-minor-mineral-concession-rules","tag-seized-vehicles","tag-vehicle-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9478,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9477\/revisions\/9478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}For release of a seized vehicle, the concerned person must fulfil the financial conditions prescribed under law, including:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Financial Conditions Mandatory for Vehicle Release<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Criminal Case and Attachment Are Separate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Police or Mining Department Seizure Makes No Difference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Court Considers Environmental Damage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lower Court Orders Upheld<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Criminal Proceedings Will Continue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n