Patna High Court ends ‘cat and mouse game’, orders videography of vehicles seized for illegal mining

“To put the whole cat and mouse game to an end, this court directs the Department of Mines and Minerals, Bihar, to issue necessary directions to all its ground officials to ensure that the whole process is videographed,” the Patna High Court said on April 2.

Justice Rajiv Roy remarked that by adopting videography exercise, state can improve success rate before the courts by proving that seizure has been made in accordance with the law.

The court remarked that by adopting these measures, the state’s success rate before the courts shall also improve if, through video footage, they are able to prove that the seizure has been made in accordance with the law.

Case of contested vehicle seizure

The ruling arose from a civil jurisdiction case filed by Manoj Kumar Mehta, whose truck was seized on January 11 by mining officials in Nawada. The petitioner contended that the vehicle was carrying stone chips from Jharkhand to East Champaran with a valid challan issued at around 9 pm on the night of the seizure.

However, the mining department claimed the vehicle was intercepted at around 10 pm without any documentation. The department further alleged that the challan presented in court was procured only after the seizure had already taken place.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Shambhu Narayan Singh submitted that a proper authority issued a challan at 08.45.54 pm on 11.01.2026 and was valid up till 13.01.2026 (03.48.54 am).

State’s stand

The counter affidavit filed by the mining department stated that the vehicle was found to be without any challan, intercepted by the police, checked by the mining inspector, Nawada, following the seizure.

The mining department’s stand is that the challan issued/produced has been procured from the authority after the seizure and was not there at the time of interception.

Representing the department, advocate Naresh Dikshit argued that the petitioner should have approached the district mining officer, Nawada, initially before coming to this court, and if he had appeared, an immediate step would have been taken to take the matter to its logical conclusion and in any case, within a period of two weeks and not later.

Mandate for videography

The Patna High Court noted that it frequently encounters cases where the same stand is taken by the vehicle owner/mining official, where it is contended that a valid challan was produced, still, interception/seizure took place, whereas the stand of the respondents remains that on demand, no paper/challan was produced.

The order noted that, however, the officials, for the reason best known, have chosen not to plug the holes, as a result of which the seizures have repeatedly been declared illegal and directions issued for the release of the vehicle by successive courts.

“In this modern era of technology,” the Patna High Court remarked, “the minimum that is expected from the officials is to videograph the entire process”.

Justice Roy noted that if such an exercise is undertaken, neither of the parties will have any grievance and/or escape route concerning the interception/demand of papers/seizure. “The authority shall also be free of any charges/allegations that are commonly made by the aggrieved parties that, despite the production of all the valid documents, including the challan, as the demand sought for was not fulfilled, forcible seizure took place,” the court stated.

The Patna High Court directed that a pen drive containing the footage must be handed over alongside the seizure document, and this fact must be recorded in the formal seizure order.