Ahmed Lebbe Mohommed Saleem v. Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Damana – CA PHC 0008/21-2021

In the case between Ahmed Lebbe Mohommed Saleem (appellant) and the Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Damana, the Complainant-Respondent, and the Attorney General’s Department (respondents), the court addressed whether a confiscated loader should be categorized as a “vehicle” under the Motor Traffic Act or as “machinery/equipment” under the Mines and Minerals Act for purposes of confiscation. It was held that the loader, though registered as a vehicle, constituted machinery/equipment when used to commit an offence of soil excavation without a permit, thereby falling within the Mines and Minerals Act. This determination reaffirmed the principle that classification depends on the actual use of the equipment at the time of the offence rather than its registration status. Reliance was placed