Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court has ruled that the police must reimburse the cost of gold seized from a jeweller, which could not be returned after his acquittal due to its loss or misplacement while in police custody.
She claimed she had entrusted the jeweller with 705 grams of gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 21.8 lakh, to be returned on demand. In Aug 2025, judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) court in Gandhidham ordered police to return the muddamal to the jeweller. The court has scheduled the next hearing for Oct 28.
However, police failed to comply, claiming the jewellery had been lost or misplaced. The case stems from a complaint by a customer, who accused a Gandhidham jeweller of cheating. When the jeweller allegedly failed to do so, police registered an FIR at the Gandhidham A Division police station and seized the disputed jewellery as case property (muddamal). Later, the customer and the jeweller settled their dispute, leading to the latter’s acquittal. So, the jeweller requested that he be returned the seized jewellery. The jeweller, represented by advocate A A Zabuawala, approached the high court seeking contempt proceedings against the responsible police officer. Hearing the contempt plea, a bench of Justice N S Sanjay Gowda and Justice J L Odedra observed, “In the light of the above, it is obvious that the police are required to reimburse the cost of the gold that they had seized from the complainant. The govt lawyer requested more time to respond.