Bill introduced in LS to amend Arms Act
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:27 pm
Bill introduced in LS to amend Arms Act
Times News Network
New Delhi: In an effort to create a database of arms' owners in the country
and ensure weapons did not land in individual hands without verification, the
government on Wednesday introduced a Bill to amend the Arms Act, 1959. Home
minister P Chidambaram introduced the Bill in Lok Sabha.
Till date, the licence issuing authority had the power to give licence if
there was a delay on the part of police in providing the verification report.
The Arms Act (Amendment) Bill, 2010, will make it mandatory for police to
carry out verification and submit report within 60 days.
The Bill aims at obviating chances of issuing arms licences to people whose
antecedents are not bonafide and ensure receipt of police verification report
within a period of 60 days.
The licensing authority will be obliged to take into consideration the police
report before granting an arms licence in each case, with the deletion of the
proviso to Section 13 (2A) of the Arms Act, 1959. The amendment will also
prevent chances of discretion being used by the licensing authority to issue
arms licence without a police verification report.
The licensing authority is required to take a decision whether to grant the
arms licence, based on the police report and subject to fulfilment of other
conditions stipulated under the Act.
However, the provision to Section 13 (2A), which is now being dropped,
empowered the licensing authority to grant an arms licence where the police
report was not received within the prescribed time.
When Chidambaram was introducing the Bill, Chandrakant Khere (Shiv Sena)
raised objections and demanded that it be referred to a Standing Committee.
In his reply, the home minister said the Bill, indeed, would go to the
Standing Committee.
Recently, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is patron-in-chief
of the National Association for Gun Rights India, had led a delegation of MPs
belonging to Congress, BJP and SP, to PM Manmohan Singh and opposed the
changes.
Source: The Times of India
Times News Network
New Delhi: In an effort to create a database of arms' owners in the country
and ensure weapons did not land in individual hands without verification, the
government on Wednesday introduced a Bill to amend the Arms Act, 1959. Home
minister P Chidambaram introduced the Bill in Lok Sabha.
Till date, the licence issuing authority had the power to give licence if
there was a delay on the part of police in providing the verification report.
The Arms Act (Amendment) Bill, 2010, will make it mandatory for police to
carry out verification and submit report within 60 days.
The Bill aims at obviating chances of issuing arms licences to people whose
antecedents are not bonafide and ensure receipt of police verification report
within a period of 60 days.
The licensing authority will be obliged to take into consideration the police
report before granting an arms licence in each case, with the deletion of the
proviso to Section 13 (2A) of the Arms Act, 1959. The amendment will also
prevent chances of discretion being used by the licensing authority to issue
arms licence without a police verification report.
The licensing authority is required to take a decision whether to grant the
arms licence, based on the police report and subject to fulfilment of other
conditions stipulated under the Act.
However, the provision to Section 13 (2A), which is now being dropped,
empowered the licensing authority to grant an arms licence where the police
report was not received within the prescribed time.
When Chidambaram was introducing the Bill, Chandrakant Khere (Shiv Sena)
raised objections and demanded that it be referred to a Standing Committee.
In his reply, the home minister said the Bill, indeed, would go to the
Standing Committee.
Recently, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is patron-in-chief
of the National Association for Gun Rights India, had led a delegation of MPs
belonging to Congress, BJP and SP, to PM Manmohan Singh and opposed the
changes.
Source: The Times of India