Malayalam actor Dulquer Salmaan on Friday moved the Kerala High Court challenging the decision of the Customs department to seize his luxury car. [Dulquer Salman v. Commissioner].Customs official recently conducted raids across Kerala including the homes of actors Dulquer Salmaan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, and seized over 35 high-end luxury cars allegedly brought from Bhutan using illegal, forged documents. Salmaan's 2004 Land Rover Defender was seized as part of the raids which has been dubbed 'Operation Numkhor'.In his petition before the High Court, Salmaan challenged the legality of the seizure, contending that he purchased the vehicle legally.The matter came up before Justice Ziyaad Rahman earlier today. The Court granted time to the Customs department to respond to the petition and posted it for further hearing to September 30..Salmaan in his petition submitted that the vehicle was cleared by a bill of entry for home consumption filed by the consignee and that he was given a copies of bill of entry, the invoice and all other documents. He contended that he believed that the vehicle had valid ownership and was registered appropriately. There was no reason for him to suspect that the import or sale was illegal, the plea stated.He also submitted that Customs officials decided to seize his vehicle even after he handed over documents to prove that all customs duties had been paid."Though the available documents were handed over to the officials, there was total refusal to look into the same while carrying out the seizure in a hasty and arbitrary fashion," the petition stated.Salmaan further informed the Court that he had filed a representation before Customs authorities on September 25 producing all documents and explaining the ownership and possession. However, Customs officials refused to release the vehicles prompting him to move the Court with the present petition.The actor also argued that since the procedure of investigation is a long drawn out process, the vehicle, if kept exposed to the weather and without regular use, will be damaged beyond repair. No public good in destroying the value of the vehicle and depriving him of using the vehicle, Salmaan contended.He, therefore, sought orders from the Court for the release of the vehicle. .Salmaan was represented by Advocates G Mini, P Fazil, Saju Thaliath, VV Jayasree, Jithin Paul Varghese, C Prathibha, Fadil Fazil, Aswathy Jayachandran and Akshaya Thomas.
