Allahabad High Court: In a writ petition praying to command the State Government not to compel valid firearms license holders to deposit their firearms merely on the basis of upcoming assembly elections, Abdul Moin J. disposed of the writ petition directing that no person shall be compelled to deposit the firearm unless there has been a written order issued by the competent authority against the person with the particular direction.
The Bench, in light of the impending elections in the State, observed that matters pertaining to compelling the license holders to deposit their firearms are repeatedly coming to this Court despite there being multiple judgments and rulings expressly directing the State not to compel a person without any individual Notice or Communication indicating reasons as to why such deposit is essential.
The Court took note of Ram Rang Jaiswal v State of UP1, Arun Kumar Singh v State of UP2, Mohd. Arif Khan v State of UP 2002 SCC OnLine All 67 and Shahabuddin v State of UP 1999 SCC OnLine All 866 and directed that:
(i) No District Magistrate or District Superintendent of Police or any Officer subordinate to them shall compel the citizens in general to deposit their firearm unless there is an order of the Central Government.
(ii) The above direction shall not preclude the competent officer/authority to pass orders/prohibit orders in individual cases or in general under the provisions of the Arms Act, 1959 (‘Arms Act’) or under the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (‘CrPC’) after application of mind.
(iii) It will also not preclude the District Magistrates/SSPs/S.P.s/Incharge of the Districts to seize weapons and take action against the holders of firearms licence in case any attempt is made by any citizen to display or carry firearms at any time till the end of the elections if the orders have already been passed by the District Magistrate under Section 144 CrPC.
(iv) In case any citizen has criminal antecedents or found displaying the arms, action may be taken against them in accordance with the provisions of law.
(v) District Magistrates are also directed to pass orders after examining the individual cases for suspending the licences and ensuring the deposit of arms in cases related to persons who have criminal history or who are on bail or lacked clean antecedents as the same might interfere in the conduct of the free and fair elections.
The Court opined that despite more than two decades having lapsed of the aforesaid judgements, yet petitions are still being filed before this Court whereby the authorities are compelling the license holders to deposit their firearms without any formal orders being passed or communicated indicating the reasons why the deposit of firearms are essential.
In this light, the Court expressed that it might be compelled to saddle the State Government with exemplary costs apart from summoning the officials responsible for not adhering to the earlier orders passed by the writ Court.
The Bench also mentioned that the Screening Committee created for the purpose of verification of the arms licences and their deposit in the State shall give a cogent reason for such deposit and no general order shall be passed by the Committee.
The Bench disposed of the petition directing the copy of the order be sent to the appropriate authorities within 24 hours for appropriate action.
[Ravi Shankar Tiwari v State of UP Civil Writ Petition No. 2844 of 2024 Order dated: 22-03-2014]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioner: Advocate Chandra Bhanu Singh
For the Respondent: CSC Vijay Vikram Singh
1. Writ C No. 9064 of 2022
2. Writ Petition No. 6860 (M/S) of 2021
Buy Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 HERE
