KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday ordered that all vehicles seized by police for the alleged violations of lockdown guidelines be released to its owners subject to fulfilling certain conditions.The Bench comprising Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice T R Ravi directed that the vehicles could be released on executing a personal bond and depositing the caswh security ranging from `1,000 to `5,000 besides furnishing the copies of the license, RC Book and insurance certificate before the concerned Station House officer. It made it clear that `1,000 can be imposed as fine for two-wheelers while `2,000, `4,000 and `5,000 for four-wheelers, medium vehicles and heavy vehicles respectively.

The owners should also furnish an undertaking that the vehicle would be produced as and when required. The court made it clear that the order would not be applicable to the repeated offenders. When the case came up for hearing, the Bench took note of the fact that thousands of vehicles had been seized since March 24 and that they were lying idle on the premises of police stations, exposing them to the vagaries of nature. The vehicle owners were slapped with the offence under section188 of the IPC as well.
The court passed the directive in a suo motu case initiated by the court in the wake of the lockdown.