Gandhinagar, Aug 22 (PTI) The Gujarat assembly on Thursday passed a bill empowering the state government to auction vehicles confiscated by police in liquor smuggling cases under the Gujarat Prohibition Act.
As per provisions of the original Act, vehicles seized in prohibition cases were not allowed to be released on bond or surety till the final judgement of the court if the accused person is found transporting more than 20 litres of liquor in that vehicle.
As a result, these confiscated vehicles lie unused for several years at police stations or in the court compound, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi said while tabling the The Gujarat Prohibition (Amendment) Bill 2024.
“Since we cannot release these vehicles till the pendency of the case, these vehicles get piled up at police stations and court compounds. Over 7,000 such vehicles are still lying with us and are turning into scrap. In some cases, vehicles are piled up in two-three layers. These seized vehicles include nearly 300 luxury cars which are worth several crore rupees,” Sanghavi told reporters.
“With this amendment in the Act, we can now sell these seized vehicles through auction and use that money in schemes meant for the poor. This will save vehicles worth crores of rupees from turning into scrap. Vehicles will fetch good prices if they are sold in time. If the accused, whose vehicle was confiscated, wins the case after fighting till High Court or even Supreme Court, he will be eligible to get the auction proceeds with 5 per cent annual interest,” said Sanghavi.
He further clarified that vehicles are not seized under this Act if the quantity of liquor is less than 20 litres.
The amendment Bill was passed through majority voice vote as four MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party did not give their support. Congress MLAs were not present as they were already suspended for the day by the Speaker in the beginning of today’s proceedings.
Prior to this Bill, the assembly unanimously passed ‘The Gujarat Goods and Service Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024’ to give effect to decisions taken by the GST Council in its 50th and 52nd meetings. PTI PJT PD BNM
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