Power of police officer to seize certain property (Section 102 of CrPc)

Legal provisions regarding power of police officer to seize certain property under section 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

(1) 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.

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(2) Such police officer, if subordinate to the officer in charge of police station, shall forthwith report the seizure to that officer.

(3) Every police officer acting under sub-section (1) shall forthwith report the seizure to the Magistrate having jurisdiction and where the property seized is such that it cannot be conveniently transported to the Court, or where there is difficulty in securing proper accommodation for the custody of such property, or where the continued retention of the property in police custody may not be considered necessary for the purpose of investigation, he may give custody thereof to any person on his executing a bond undertaking to produce the property before the Court as and when required and to give effect to the further orders of the Court as to the disposal of the same.

Provided that where the property seized under sub-section (1) is subject to speedy and natural decay and if the person entitled to the possession of such property is unknown or absent and the value of such property is less than five hundred rupees, it may forthwith be sold by action under the order of the Superintendent of Police and the provisions of Sections 457 and 458 shall, as nearly as may be practicable, apply to the net proceeds of such sale.

Seizure under section 102 of the Code means actual taking physical possession of movable property in pursuance of a legal process. This section gives the police officer power to seize only the property suspected to be stolen.

As such, police cannot seize the account and locker held by an accused in a bank, nor can the police prohibit the accused from withdrawing money or taking away property from the lockers.

Section 102 of the Code does not authorize a police officer to prohibit the payment of debt by a debtor to the accused person or to ask a bank to stop payment to the accused person. Seizure of bank account of wife by the police after arrest of husband under the Official Secrets Act is illegal.

The bank account or postal account of the accused or any of his relations is properly within the meaning of section 102 of the Code and the police officer in course of investigation, can seize or prohibit operation or freeze the account of the said account if such assets have direct link with the commission of the offence.

The police have power to seize animals under section 102 of the Code even in non-cognizable cases committed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and other ancillary Acts.

Vehicles can be seized by a police officer if it carried smuggled goods or some other contraband items and is involved in an offence under section 279 of the Indian Penal Code without an accident, and also for an offence of non-payment of tax as the words used in section 102 are ‘any offence’.

Immovable property like lands, houses, mountains, rivers, roads, streets and similar properties cannot be seized by a police officer under section 102 of the Code, nor the Magistrate pass any order under section 451 of the Code in respect of such properties.

The police officer seizing the property shall forthwith report the seizure to the magistrate having jurisdiction; and if such an officer is subordinate to the Station House Officer, he shall also report forthwith to the Station House Officer. The Magistrate shall make such order as he thinks fit respecting the disposal of such property or the delivery of such property to the person entitled to the possession thereof.

Where on enquiry it is found that no offence has been committed in respect of the property seized by the police under section 102 of the Code on suspicion of theft, the property should be returned to the person from whose possession the property was seized under section 457 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.