As per case facts, petitioners' trucks were seized for illegally transporting unfinished willow clefts without due permission, violating the J&K Willow (Prohibition on Export and Movement) Act. The authorized officer ... confiscated the vehicles, and this order was upheld by the appellate authority. Petitioners challenged this in a writ petition, which resulted in a fresh confiscation order that was also upheld. The current petition challenges these confiscation orders. The question arose whether confiscation proceedings for non-governmental property could be finalized without the criminal conviction of the offender, especially when no criminal case was registered. Finally, the court concluded that for non-governmental property, confiscation orders cannot be finalized until the offender's criminal conviction is recorded by the Magistrate. As there was no criminal case registration or conviction, the confiscatory proceedings were deemed illegal and unsustainable, leading to the quashing of the impugned orders and release of the petitioners' vehicles.