1 949.odt IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO. 6430 OF 2026 WITH WRIT PETITION NO. 6433 OF 2026 WITH WRIT PETITION NO. 6431 OF 2026 WITH WRIT PETITION NO. 6432 OF 2026 AVINASH VASANT KOHKADE VERSUS THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA THROUGH PRINCIPAL SECRETARY AND ANOTHER ... Advocate for Petitioner : Mr. B.S. Deshmukh h/f. Mr. Sonar Prashant R. AGP for Respondent Nos. 1 & 2 : Ms. Deepali Jape … CORAM : MANJUSHA DESHPANDE, J. DATE : 22nd SEPTEMBER, 2026 PER COURT : 1. In all these Writ Petition listed before this Court the vehicles / machinery of the respective Petitioners have been seized by the Circle Officer / Tahsildar in the respective matters. Following are the details of vehicles / machinery and penalty imposed on them : Petition no. Vehicles/Machine no. Penalty W.P. No. 6430/2026 MH-15-EG-4755 2,00,000/- W.P. No. 6431/2026 MH-15-GV-8455 AND MH-15-JC-5155 2,00,000/- W.P. No. 6432/2026 MH-21-BG-5588 2,00,000/- W.P. No. 6433/2026 MH-15-GV-5155 2,00,000/- 2 949.odt 2. After conducting the panchnama, a report has been forwarded by the Tahsildar to the Sub-Divisional Officer. Thereafter, a show cause notice was issued to the Petitioners as to why the penalty under Section 48 (8) of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, should not be imposed upon them. After issuance of the show casue notice and the explanation given by the Petitioner, the Petitioner has approached this Court. However, during the pendency of the Writ Petition, the order imposing penalty has been passed by the Sub-Divisional Officer, which is under challenge in the present Writ Petition. The order has been passed during the pendency of the Writ Petition. Penalty of Rs. 2 Lakhs has been imposed on the Petitioners vide order dated 03.08.2026. 3. Learned Advocate for the Petitioners submits that in all these matters, the remedy of filing Appeal is available to the Petitioners and he proposes to approach the Collector by invoking the statutory remedy of Appeal. The only relief he is seeking in the present Writ Petitions is a direction to the Appellate Authority to release the vehicles / machinery of the respective Petitioners on depositing of the 25% of the penalty assessed in the impugned order by the Appellate Authority by imposing appropriate conditions during the pendency of the Appeal before the Appellate Authority. He relies on the various orders passed by this Court 3 949.odt in Writ Petition nos. 8413/2026, 13060/2023 and 398/2026, wherein a similar relief has been granted in favour of the Petitioners in the Writ Petition. 4. The respective government Advocates appearing in the Writ Petitions, have opposed the prayer of the Petitioners on the ground that it is prerogative of the Appellate Authority to grant interim relief to the Petitioners during the pendency of the Appeal. Considering that there is a substantive statutory remedy available to the Petitioners, the present Writ Petitions are not maintainable. The availability of alternate statutory remedy is not disputed. However, considering the fact that the vehicles after seizure, have remained in the custody of the Revenue Authorities for more than two to three months, the continued detention of vehicles/ machinery is not only causing financial loss to the Petitioners but is also results in the damage to vehicles / machinery in a stand still condition. 5. In view thereof, since the Petitioners are not claiming that the Writ Petitions should be entertained by setting aside the order passed by the Sub-Divisional Commissioner, in my opinion, it would suffice to issue directions to the Appellate Authority to decide the Appeals that would be filed by the Petitioners against the orders passed by the Sub- Divisional Officer and in case, if an Application is accompanied along 4 949.odt with such Appeal, order to release the vehicles / machinery forthwith shall be passed upon depositing of 25% of the amount, by imposing conditions like undertaking of redepositing the vehicles in case if any adverse orders is passed in Appeals. If such Appeals are filed by the Petitioners, the aforementioned orders shall be passed by the Appellate Authority subject to the outcome of the Appeal. 6. After the passing of the order of deposit of 25% of the amount, the vehicles and the machinery shall be release forthwith. 7. With the aforementioned directions, the Writ Petitions shall stand disposed of. ( MANJUSHA DESHPANDE, J. ) SPC