680. Register of property made over to the Nazir in criminal cases.
(1)Pending the completion of an enquiry or trial, the articles in evidence or the personal property of an accused produced by the police shall, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, remain in the custody of the nazir, except where they consist of valuables, currency notes or coins exceeding Rs. 100 in aggregate value. Valuables, currency notes or coins shall invariably be made up into a scaled packet in the presence of the Magistrate and a memorandum in the prescribed form (Schedule V, No. 198) giving the list of the property and the estimated value thereof prepared. If the value of the packet exceeds Rs. 100 the sealed packet and memorandum shall be sent to the treasury or sub-treasury officer through the nazir to be kept in the treasury for safe custody and the treasury officer or sub-treasury officer shall proceed in accordance with Financial Rules 9 and 10. If the value of the packet does not exceed Rs. 100 the sealed packet and memorandum shall be sent to the nazir. The nazir shall endorse on the memorandum the receipt of the packet and also the serial number which the packet bears in his register of property made over to the nazir in criminal cases and keep the packet in his safe. The memorandum shall be returned to the Magistrate and filed in the record of the enquiry or trial. Each packet, whether sent to the treasury officer or sub-treasury officer or kept by the nazir in his safe, shall be entered in the above-mentioned register and the alleged contents and their value noted in the appropriate columns.(2)When the property contained in a scaled packet is required at any intermediate hearing the Magistrate shall endorse requisition on the memorandum and send the memorandum to the treasury officer or sub-treasury officer or the nazir and obtain the packet. As soon as the day's hearing concludes the property shall again be made up into a sealed packet in the presence of the Magistrate and sent with the memorandum for safe custody as directed in sub-rule (1).(3)Property other than valuables, currency notes or coins shall be sent to the nazir with a memorandum in the prescribed form (Schedule V, No. 199) for safe custody. The nazir shall enter the property in his register of property made over to the nazir in criminal cases, endorse on the memorandum the receipt of the property and also the serial number which the property bears in the above mentioned register and return the memorandum to the Magistrate for being filed in the record of the enquiry or trial. When the property is required at any intermediate hearing the magistrate shall endorse the requisition in memorandum and send the memorandum to the nazir and obtain the property. As soon as the day's hearing concludes the property shall be sent to the nazir with the memorandum for safe custody as before.(4)When a trial is concluded, the property shall be sent back with the memorandum containing the copy of the order for its disposal, and the nazir or the naib-nazir shall acknowledge on the order sheet of the case the receipt by him of the property and the memorandum. After the property is disposed of, the memorandum shall be sent to the record-keeper for being filed in the record of the case.(5)When property is disposed of by return, sale or otherwise, an entry to that effect shall be made in the register and it shall be attested by the Magistrate concerned.(6)(i)Articles in evidence should be disposed of as soon as possible after the case is concluded. If no orders for disposal are received within a reasonable time, a reference should be made by the nazir to the Court concerned.(ii)Where an appeal or revision is tiled the Court of appeal or revision, as the case may be, shall send intimation thereof to the Trial Court.(iii)On receipt of such intimation the court reader shall make a note of it in the remarks column of the register of Criminal Cases for ready reference when the nazir resubmits the memorandum of property for disposal as required by Section 517 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.(iv)In murder cases in which a sentence of death has been passed the property shall not be disposed of until the sentence has been executed :Provided that where a proceeding arising from a murder case is pending, against an approver the property shall not be disposed of until the proceeding has been finally decided.(7)Property retained by the nazir in connection with a proceeding under Section 512 of the Criminal Procedure Code shall not be kept for more than five years, unless the District Magistrate expressly directs its further retention.(8)The register maintained at the head-quarters of a district shall be put up for scrutiny every month to the Additional District Magistrate or the officer-in-charge of the nazarat. The register at outlying stations shall be put up every month to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate or the Tahsildar, as the case may be.(9)A quarterly statement showing the items in the register pending since the end of the previous quarter shall be submitted by the nazir or naib-nazir to the officer-in-charge of the nazarat, and the officer-in-charge shall examine the register and see that it is being properly maintained.
