Getting a Seized Vehicle or Property Back: CrPC Section 451-459 vs BNSS Section 497-505

Interim custody, and eventual return or disposal, of property seized during a police investigation — for example a vehicle, cash, or other movable property — is governed in India by Section 497 to Section 505 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, replacing Section 451 to Section 459 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973. The BNSS keeps the CrPC's interim-custody, claimant, and disposal framework largely intact, while extending interim custody to the investigation stage, adding a documentation timeline for seized property and raising the perishable-property value threshold.

The situation

Police have seized a vehicle, cash, or other property in connection with an investigation. The owner, or a person claiming entitlement to it, wants it released to their custody while the case proceeds, or wants to know what happens to the property once the case concludes, is appealed, or if no one comes forward to claim it.

Old law vs new law at a glance

What the law requires now, step by step

Step 1 — Property is produced before the court or Magistrate

Section 497(1) BNSS applies "when any property is produced before any Criminal Court or the Magistrate empowered to take cognizance or commit the case for trial during any investigation, inquiry or trial." The court or Magistrate "may make such order as it thinks fit for the proper custody of such property pending the conclusion of the investigation, inquiry or trial."

Step 2 — The property is documented within 14 days

Section 497(2) BNSS requires that "within a period of fourteen days from the production of the property... before it," the court or Magistrate "prepare a statement of such property containing its description in such form and manner as the State Government may, by rules, provide." Section 497(3) adds:

"The Court or the Magistrate shall cause to be taken the photograph and if necessary, videograph on mobile phone or any electronic media, of the property"

Section 497(4) states this statement and photograph or videograph "shall be used as evidence in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under the Sanhita."

Step 3 — A disposal order follows within 30 days

Section 497(5) BNSS requires the court or Magistrate, "within a period of thirty days after the statement has been prepared... and the photograph or the videography has been taken," to "order the disposal, destruction, confiscation or delivery of the property."

Step 4 — If the property is perishable or otherwise expedient to sell, it can be sold pending trial

Section 497(1) BNSS retains the CrPC's rule that property "subject to speedy and natural decay, or if it is otherwise expedient so to do," may, "after recording such evidence as it thinks necessary," be ordered "sold or otherwise disposed of" — the same interim-sale power as Section 451 CrPC.

Step 5 — At the conclusion of the case, the court orders final disposal

Section 498(1) BNSS allows the court or Magistrate, once "an investigation, inquiry or trial in any criminal case is concluded," to order disposal "by destruction, confiscation or delivery to any person claiming to be entitled to possession thereof or otherwise." Delivery may be made "without any condition or on condition that he executes a bond, with or without securities... engaging to restore such property to the Court if the order... is modified or set aside on appeal or revision." Section 498(4) BNSS bars carrying out the order for two months, "or when an appeal is presented, until such appeal has been disposed of," except where the property is livestock, perishable, or a bond has been executed.

Step 6 — If police hold seized property not produced in court, the Magistrate directs its custody or return

Section 503(1) BNSS applies where seizure "is reported to a Magistrate... and such property is not produced before a Criminal Court during an inquiry or trial." The Magistrate may order delivery to a known claimant "on such conditions (if any) as the Magistrate thinks fit," or, if the claimant is unknown, detain the property and "issue a proclamation... requiring any person who may have a claim thereto, to appear before him and establish his claim within six months from the date of such proclamation."

Step 7 — If no claim is made, or the property is perishable or low-value, it is sold

Section 504(1) BNSS allows the Magistrate, if no claim is established within the six months, to direct the property be "at the disposal of the State Government" for sale, if the possessor "is unable to show that it was legally acquired by him." Section 505 BNSS separately allows the Magistrate to order a sale at any time if the entitled person is unknown or absent and the property is perishable, or "the value of such property is less than ten thousand rupees."

What changed — and what did not

• New provision: Section 497(2)-(4) BNSS's 14-day statement and photograph (and, if necessary, videograph) requirement, and Section 497(5)'s 30-day disposal-order deadline, have no equivalent language in Section 451 CrPC.
• Modified: Section 499 BNSS adds an express payment window — "within six months from the date of such order" — to the innocent-purchaser compensation power that Section 453 CrPC states without any stated time limit.
• Modified: Section 505 BNSS raises the perishable-property value threshold to "less than ten thousand rupees." Section 459 CrPC's threshold was "less than five hundred rupees" — itself substituted for an original "less than ten rupees" by Act 25 of 2005, s.41, with effect from 23 June 2006, per the footnote to that section.
• Modified: Section 497(1) and Section 498(1)-(2) BNSS add the investigation stage and "the Magistrate" to the interim-custody and final-disposal powers that Sections 451 and 452 CrPC framed around an inquiry or trial before a Criminal Court.
• Identical: The two-month/appeal hold on a final-disposal order, the appeal mechanism against disposal orders, the destruction-of-libellous-matter and destruction-of-adulterated-goods powers (with updated cross-references to BNS offence sections in place of IPC sections), the restoring-possession power with its one-month window, and the police-seizure/unclaimed-property procedure with its six-month claim window, are substantively the same across both codes.

Which law applies to your case

If a proceeding concerning the seized property — an application, inquiry, or the underlying trial — was already pending immediately before 1 July 2024, Section 531(2)(a) BNSS states it continues to be handled under the CrPC "as if this Sanhita had not come into force." Because that saving covers only what was pending, an application or proceeding regarding seized property begun on or after 1 July 2024 falls under Section 497-505 BNSS, including its 14-day documentation and 30-day disposal-order timelines, which have no CrPC counterpart — a reading of Section 531(2)(a), not an express statement in it. See Offence Before 1 July 2024: Which Law Applies for the full transition rule.

Practical checklist

For the person seeking release of seized property:

• Ask whether the 14-day statement and photograph/videograph under Section 497(2)-(3) BNSS have been completed — these did not exist under the CrPC and are now a documented step you can track.
• If more than 30 days have passed since that statement and photograph/videograph were made, check whether a disposal order under Section 497(5) BNSS has issued.
• If you are an unknown or unidentified claimant, note the six-month window under Section 503(2)/504(1) BNSS to come forward and establish your claim.

For the advocate:

• When applying for interim custody, cite Section 497(1) BNSS, noting it now extends to property produced before "the Magistrate empowered to take cognizance or commit the case for trial," not only a Criminal Court.
• For an innocent-purchaser compensation claim under Section 499 BNSS, track the six-month payment window expressly stated in the new text.
• Where the property's value approaches the perishable-sale threshold, confirm whether Section 505 BNSS's ten-thousand-rupee figure, rather than the CrPC's five-hundred-rupee figure, applies to the proceeding.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a seized vehicle released while the case is pending?

Section 497(1) BNSS allows the Criminal Court or the Magistrate before whom the property is produced to "make such order as it thinks fit for the proper custody of such property pending the conclusion of the investigation, inquiry or trial." This is the interim-custody power (the word "superdari" used in this guide's title does not appear in either code). Section 451 CrPC covered only property produced before a Criminal Court "during any inquiry or trial"; Section 497(1) BNSS adds the investigation stage and the Magistrate empowered to take cognizance or commit the case for trial.

Is there now a time limit for the police or court to document seized property?

Yes. Section 497(2) BNSS requires the Court or Magistrate to prepare a statement describing the property "within a period of fourteen days from the production of the property," and Section 497(3) requires a photograph and, if necessary, a videograph on a mobile phone or other electronic media. Section 497(5) requires an order on the property's disposal, destruction, confiscation or delivery within thirty days of the statement and photograph/videograph being made. No equivalent time limit, photograph, or videograph requirement is stated in Section 451 CrPC.

What happens to seized property once the trial concludes?

Section 498(1) BNSS allows the Court or Magistrate to order disposal by destruction, confiscation, or delivery to the person entitled to possession, once the investigation, inquiry or trial is concluded — matching Section 452 CrPC, except that Section 452(1) CrPC spoke only of an inquiry or trial concluded in a Criminal Court and of "the Court", where Section 498(1) BNSS adds the investigation stage and "the Magistrate". Section 498(4) BNSS bars carrying out that order for two months, or until an appeal is disposed of if one is filed, except for livestock, perishables, or where a bond has been executed — the same exceptions as Section 452(4) CrPC.

Can I appeal an order about seized property?

Yes. Section 500 BNSS allows a person aggrieved by an order under Section 498 or Section 499 to appeal to the court to which appeals ordinarily lie from convictions of the court that made the order, matching Section 454 CrPC. The Appellate Court can stay, modify, alter or annul the order.

What is the new monetary threshold for selling perishable seized property?

Section 505 BNSS allows the Magistrate to order seized property sold, where the person entitled to it is unknown or absent, if (among other grounds) its value is "less than ten thousand rupees." Section 459 CrPC set this threshold at "less than five hundred rupees," itself a 2006 increase from an original "less than ten rupees" figure recorded in a footnote to that section.

Related on Veritect

• CrPC to BNSS: Complete Section Mapping
• Offence Before 1 July 2024: Which Law Applies
• Claiming Maintenance: Section 125 CrPC vs Section 144 BNSS
• "Section 144" Orders Under the New Law: CrPC 144 vs BNSS 163
• Section 451 CrPC vs Section 497 BNSS — Custody and Disposal of Property (CrPC 451-452)
• Section 102 CrPC vs Section 106 BNSS — Power of Police Officer to Seize Certain Property
• Sections 453–459 CrPC vs Sections 499–505 BNSS — Innocent Purchaser, Appeals, Destruction, Restoration of Possession and Unclaimed Seized Property

Statutory sources

• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — Sections 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505

This guide explains the statutory text of the BNS, BNSS and BSA as enacted. It is not legal advice; for a specific case, consult an advocate.