Karnataka High Court clears RTO hurdle, Bengalurean can sell Audi car

BENGALURU: The high court has brought relief to a Bengalurean who’d found that police were preventing him from selling his Audi car, citing that the woman from whom he had purchased it, was involved in a Rs 375-crore fraud.
The court ruled that police cannot restrain sale or alienation of any vehicle under section 91 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973.It directed the regional traffic officer (RTO), Electronics City, to remove the block relating to the car’s records and entries in the official computer system.
Key observation
“Going by the text of section 91(1), what one can infer is that the court or jurisdictional police can seek production of any document for the purpose of investigation, trial or any proceeding under the code,” Justice Krishna S Dixit observed in his order.
He noted the court’s opinion is necessary for production of the vehicle. Otherwise, there is a risk of invalidation on grounds of abuse of power or casual approach of the authority. He added that jurisdictional police could ask for production of the vehicle in question if it is genuinely required for investigation.
What happened
V Jayakumar had approached the court challenging the RTO’s September 27 order on instructions issued by police attached to the economic offences division. The order had blocked all entries and details about the Audi A4 2.0. Jayakumar had sought a clearance certificate for the vehicle.
Police said the car belonged to Disha Choudhary, a realtor accused of cheating 3,520 customers to the tune of Rs 375 crore. The CID is investigating the case, so there is nothing wrong in blocking details about the car, the cops contended.