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Rajput Vijaysinh Natvarsinh vs. State of Gujarat & Ors.

Not available · 2025 INSC 1129Decided 18 Sept 2025
Not available
Justice Sanjay Karol · Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra

Background

A complainant alleged that the appellant's trading firm had taken over Rs. 3.49 crore from various merchants for castor seed deals and issued cheques that bounced, leading to a cheating and criminal breach of trust case. During investigation, police seized Rs. 50 lakh in cash. A witness listed in the chargesheet (respondent no. 2) applied for release of this cash to himself, claiming it represented money owed to him from a separate business deal with the same firm, and produced a bill, audit report, and ledger to support this. Both the trial magistrate and the Sessions Judge refused to release the cash while the case was pending, but the Gujarat High Court reversed this and ordered the money released to the witness.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court set aside the High Court's order and restored the decisions of the courts below. It held that the High Court had correctly cited the governing precedent (Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai) on releasing seized valuables and currency during trial, but had failed to properly apply it to these facts, since the seized money was itself the subject matter of the dispute about who was cheated. The Court reasoned that simply because the amount claimed by the witness matched the amount seized did not conclusively prove ownership, especially given the very long list of other alleged victims: that determination could only be made after full evidence was considered at trial. It directed that the money (already withdrawn following the High Court's order) be deposited with the trial court's registry pending the outcome.

Lesson Learnt

When cash or property seized during a criminal investigation is itself part of the alleged crime (such as disputed proceeds), courts should be cautious about releasing it to any one claimant before trial: ownership disputes over such property are for the trial court to resolve after examining all the evidence, not to be decided prematurely.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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