Breaking : Police Cannot Attach Immovable Property Under Sec.102 CrPC During Investigation, Declares SC [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court has held that police does not have the power to attach immovable property during investigation under Section 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The judgment was delivered by the bench comprising CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna. However, police does have authority to freeze moveable properties of the accused, clarified the bench.

Section 102(1) CrPC says that "Any police officer, may seize any property which may be alleged or suspected to have been stolen, or which may be found under circumstances which create suspicion of the commission of any offence."

The appeal was against the judgment dated November 29, 2010 of the Bombay High Court in the case Sudhir Vasant Karnataki vs The State Of Maharashtra.

The majority judgement of the Full Bench of the Bombay High Court had held that the police has no power to seize immovable property during the course of investigation. Challenging this, the State of Maharashtra had filed appeal.

The majority comprising Justices R C Chavan and R S Dalvi of the High Court held that police cannot seize immovable property. Justice B H Marlapalle dissented.

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