3 min readChandigarhNov 18, 2025 12:42 PM IST
First published on: Nov 18, 2025 at 12:41 PM IST
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that tractors, cars and other vehicles seized in serious criminal cases, including murder, should be returned to their owners soon after the police record detailed photographs and high-quality videos, instead of letting them rust for years in police stations.
Justice Anoop Chitkara passed the order on Monday while allowing the release of a tractor and a Tata Harrier SUV seized two years ago in a 2023 murder case registered in Haryana’s Sirsa district.
“…from whatever angle it is seen, keeping the vehicle in police possession for years is not going to serve any purpose. The solution is to record a video of the vehicle and to play the same to the victims/witness(s), so that it can be easily identified. Needless to say, digital evidence can be stored indefinitely,” the court stated.
The vehicles belong to Sirsa resident Mahender. His brother Mukesh Kumar, who holds his power of attorney, had moved the high court after a sessions court in Sirsa refused to release the vehicles on the ground that the investigation was still pending and some accused were yet to be arrested.
The high court set aside the lower court’s order and directed the release of the vehicles by following the guidelines it laid down in an earlier case that was decided on November 12.
The court said keeping vehicles in open police parking lots for years serves no purpose. The vehicles lose value, get damaged by the sun and rain, and become difficult to identify later. Witnesses can easily recognise the vehicle from properly recorded digital evidence, which can be preserved forever.
“If the incident had taken place in a metro or a plane, or by firing from the door of a train, would such vehicles be seized, and hypothetically if yes, for how many years simply because the accused is not available or cannot be arrested? Rather, it would be let off after conducting a forensic science examination and a proper search,” Justice Chitkara stated.
He added, “Had the incident taken place in a battery-operated rickshaw, usually driven by people with meagre means, or in a taxi, which is hypothecated and monthly installments of loan and interest have to be paid against advanced postdated cheques or standing debit instructions, should the livelihood of such a person be put at stake simply because the incident/accident had taken place in their vehicle?”
The police must now complete a forensic examination of the vehicle if needed, take detailed photographs or make a full video showing chassis number, engine number and all sides of the vehicle, and store the digital record properly before handing over the vehicle to the owner. The owner has to give an affidavit and meet other conditions within 60 days, failing which the release order will automatically stand cancelled.
The court made it clear that such interim release will not affect the trial, and the digital evidence will be admissible in court.
The high court set aside the lower court’s order and directed the release of the vehicles by following the guidelines it laid down in an earlier case that was decided on November 12. (File) 
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