HC upholds seizure of 14.2 tonnes of red sanders, calls transporters’ defence ‘preposterous’

The petition was filed by Bengaluru resident Ravi K S, 49, and Panvel resident Rajkumar Godara, 49, against a March 13, 2025 sessions court order that had upheld a December 2022 decision of the Chief Conservator of Forests, Thane, confirming the seizure

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the confiscation of over 14,204 kg of red sanders seized in 2016, holding that the transporters violated conditions of the permit issued to move the high-value timber from Bengaluru to Virar.

HC upholds seizure of 14.2 tonnes of red sanders, calls transporters’ defence ‘preposterous’

A single-judge bench of justice N J Jamadar said the transporters “cannot be permitted to wriggle out of the consequences” of breaching the terms of the exchange pass issued by Maharashtra forest authorities.

The petition was filed by Bengaluru resident Ravi K S, 49, and Panvel resident Rajkumar Godara, 49, against a March 13, 2025 sessions court order that had upheld a December 2022 decision of the Chief Conservator of Forests, Thane, confirming the seizure.

Police intercepted the truck carrying the consignment at Kalamboli on July 3, 2016. The exchange pass required the vehicle to reach its destination by July 1, 2016. At the time of seizure, the pass had expired and the vehicle was still short of Virar.

“The seizure of the vehicle laden with the forest produce at a place, well before of its destination, beyond the validity period of the pass, cannot be brushed aside as a mere irregularity, as such a situation is impregnated with opportunities for the commission of further forest offences,” Justice Jamadar observed in his March 17 order.

The petitioners said they were transporting the logs from Jai Hanuman Wood Works in Bengaluru to Shreya Trading Private Limited in Virar. The consignment had cleared an inter-state check at Kagal in Kolhapur, after which Maharashtra officials issued a pass valid till July 1, 2016 to reach Virar.

The transporters claimed the truck had halted in Kalamboli due to a technical snag when it was intercepted. The vehicle and timber were then handed over to the forest department on July 3, 2016.

The prosecution argued that the transporters made no attempt to renew the pass after it expired. The petitioners said they could not do so as July 1, 2016 was a public holiday due to Jamat-ul-Vida, the last Friday prayer in Ramadan.

Rejecting the claim, the court noted that the day was not a notified public holiday and there was no evidence of any mechanical fault with their vehicle. The transporters’ explanation, it said, was “rather egregious” and “wholly preposterous”.

“Given the strict measures envisaged by the legislature, no deviation can be tolerated in regard to the destination of the forest-produce, even if it is transported with a valid pass,” the court added.

Red sanders, native to the southern Eastern Ghats, is a high-value timber species vulnerable to smuggling. It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which strictly regulates its international trade.