New Delhi, Supreme Court on Tuesday said the police does not have the power to attach immovable property of an accused under Section 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) during the investigation of any offence/case. “The police cannot seize immovable properties of an accused during investigation of an offence against him under section 102 of the CrPC,” the apex court bench, led by Justice Deepak Gupta said in its verdict.
The top court, however, said that the investigating agency can freeze movable properties, if it wanted to do so in any case against the accused. The matter relates to powers of the police under section 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code in respect of seizure of property during investigation.
Majority judgement of the full bench of the Maharashtra High Court had held that the police has no power to seize property during the course of investigation. The Maharashtra High Court, during the course of arguments, did not agree with the submissions of the state fearing there would be misuse of the power by the police.
State government had challenged the same before the apex court by saying that as the police can freeze the bank accounts as per the the judgement of Tapas Niyogi and that the police can also seize property relating to the offence. It was subsequently challenged by the Maharashtra Government before the top court, which also dismissed its appeal and upheld the state High Court verdict.