By Neeraj Kumar
Patna: The Patna High Court has issued a significant ruling regarding the cancellation of arms licences. The court clarified that the mere registration of an FIR against an individual cannot be the basis for revoking their arms licence. This ruling was made by Justice Mohit Kumar Shah while hearing the petition of Sunil Kumar Sinha.
The petitioner had challenged the order of the District Magistrate of Supaul, who had cancelled his arms licence solely on the grounds of an FIR being registered against him. The High Court, rejecting the argument of the District Magistrate, ruled that the registration of an FIR does not constitute a pending criminal case.
The court further stated that in this case, no charge sheet had been filed by the police, nor had the trial court taken cognisance of the matter. Therefore, this situation does not disqualify the petitioner from holding an arms licence.
It is noteworthy that in the case of Mewa Lal Chaudhary vs Government of India, the Patna High Court had similarly ruled that the decision of the Passport Authority to confiscate a passport based merely on an FIR was illegal and arbitrary. The court reaffirmed that an arms licence cannot be cancelled solely because a criminal case is pending against the licence holder.
