In a ruling that will likely bring relief to many innocent vehicle owners caught in NDPS seizures, the Supreme Court on Monday set aside a Madras High Court order that had denied the release of a seized lorry. The Court held that the Drug Disposal Committee cannot replace judicial authority when it comes to deciding interim custody or confiscation of vehicles seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Background
The case involved Denash, a Tamil Nadu transporter whose 14-wheeler truck was seized by the Neyveli police in July 2024 after officers found six kilograms of ganja hidden under the driver’s seat. The truck had been hired to lawfully transport over 29,000 metric tonnes of iron sheets from Chhattisgarh to Ranipet.
Four men, including the driver, were arrested and later chargesheeted, but Denash himself was never named as an accused. Despite that, his application for interim custody of the seized vehicle was rejected first by the Special Court and later by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. The High Court reasoned that after the 2022 NDPS (Seizure, Storage, Sampling and Disposal) Rules came into effect, only the Drug Disposal Committee could handle such matters.
Court’s Observations
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta disagreed, saying that such interpretation “would lead to unjust deprivation of property without judicial scrutiny.”
“The Rules of 2022 are only supplemental and cannot override the parent law,” the bench observed, stressing that only Special Courts under the NDPS Act can decide whether a vehicle is to be released or confiscated.
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The Court also referred to its earlier rulings in Bishwajit Dey v. State of Assam and Tarun Kumar Majhi v. State of West Bengal, reiterating that confiscation can only occur after trial, and not before hearing the vehicle’s owner. “If the owner shows he had no knowledge or role in the illegal use of his vehicle, the law protects his property,” the bench said.
Pointing to the absurdity of leaving an innocent owner “at the mercy of administrative committees,” Justice Mehta added, “This can never be the intent of the legislature.” The judgment noted that the transporter had a valuable cargo and valid papers and that it was “highly improbable” he would risk his business for smuggling a few kilos of ganja.
Decision
Concluding that the High Court’s interpretation was “unsustainable in law,” the Supreme Court set aside its order and directed that Denash’s vehicle (Reg. No. TN 52 Q 0315) be released on supurdagi-a temporary handover-subject to conditions decided by the Special Court.
With this, the Court reaffirmed that judicial discretion, not administrative procedure, governs interim release of property seized under the NDPS Act.
Case Title: Denash vs State of Tamil Nadu
Court: Supreme Court of India
Bench: Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta
Decided on October 27, 2025
