HC bans issuance of fresh arms licences in UP

[spin_drift]

Any new news on this? is the ban still in place or has it been lifted?

[Mubi]

Hello,
i have heard that the ban was lifted from 25th May. is it true? dears member kindly shed some light on this.

Regards

Mubi

[tiwarianurag]

Hi. This is new order from HC.

Court No. - 1
Case :-
MISC. BENCH No. - 3268 of 2012
Petitioner :-
Jitendra Singh
Respondent :-
State Of U.P. Thru Secy. Deptt Of Home And Others
Counsel for Petitioner :-
Shailendra Kumar Singh,Anshuman Singh
Counsel for Respondent :-
Govt. Advocate,A.S.G.,Csc,I.H.Farooqi
Hon'ble Uma Nath Singh,J.
Hon'ble Zaki Ullah Khan,J.
Order (Oral)
List on 17.4.2014.
Interim order, if any, to continue till then.
Order Date :-
1.4.2014
Rizv

[miroflex]

Any idea of what happened on the day of next hearing i.e. 17.4.2014?

[tiwarianurag]

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH

?Court No. - 23

Case :- MISC. BENCH No. - 3268 of 2012

Petitioner :- Jitendra Singh
Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru Secy. Deptt Of Home And Others
Counsel for Petitioner :- Shailendra Kumar Singh,Anshuman Singh
Counsel for Respondent :- Govt. Advocate,A.S.G.,Csc,I.H.Farooqi

Hon'ble Sudhir Kumar Saxena,J.
Hon'ble Rakesh Srivastava,J.
A short counter affidavit has been filed before this Court annexing therewith a copy of report of Professor Himanshu Rai, IIM, Lucknow.
We have perused the report which is an in-depth study and we commend the efforts made by Professor Himanshu Rai.
Recommendations of Professor Himanshu Rai are as follows:-
". Since weapons like rifles are assault weapons, so, no license should be given for rifles and long barreled guns.
. For Self Protection small weapons with low caliber should be given to public which cannot kill but only defends and this caliber should be specified by the government.
. There should be a thorough check of the antecedents of the license holders by the police.
. The antecedents of the licensee should be monitored periodically so as to avoid the misuse of the licensed Weapons.
. The licensed Weapons should be submitted for inspection at regular intervals at the nearby police station.
. At no point the number of licensed weapons should be more than weapons available to the police."
Stand of the State Government on these recommendations has to be placed by the next date.
We are informed that still celebratory firing is not under check. Deaths are occurring due to celebratory firing. Even in Lucknow, cases of celebratory firing have been reported recently.
Government Advocate will inform the court about the action taken against the persons involved in celebratory firings by the next date of listing.
Sri Rishad Murtaza, Government Advocate has prayed for modification of interim order on the ground that National and International sports persons are required to be given license enabling them to participate in the shooting events in the country or abroad.
In view of above, we modify our order dated 25.11.2013 and permit State Government/Authorities to issue licenses to National and International sports persons only enabling them to participate in the shooting events, as per their specific requirements.
I.G. (Rules)/Member Secretary of the Committee will appear along with adequate material on the next date of listing.
List on 18.09.2014.
Order Date :- 6.9.2014
Nitesh

[goodboy_mentor]

This is what happens when people who know nothing about the subject, but think they know the best. And have no one to oppose them. Time for strengthening organizations like NAGRI.

[pran80]

WHo is this Mr. Rai and in what capacity has he provided his views to the court?

[Amit357]

WHo is this Mr. Rai and in what capacity has he provided his views to the court?

A court appointed IGNOMUS,the problem exists principally because Legit Arms Holders have no lobby.There is no one who wants to help promote the Gun Culture. In US despite the crime/accidents happening with Legit Firearms the Administration is unable to do anything.In India if ever accidents/crimes happened on the quantum they took place in US,Airguns would be put in the category of P Bores.This is despite the fact that India is surrounded by countries which would be the happiest if we went down.

[miroflex]

The Court's orders are based upon the report of a person who does not appear to be very knowledgeable about firearms. NAGRI should try to get itself impleaded in the case and submit a balanced and properly reasoned affidavit giving the Court enough grounds to lift the ban.

Regards.

[pran80]

Correct me if I am wrong, but any order passed based on the above assumptions by Mr Rai won't be ultra vires to arms act?

[goodboy_mentor]

It will be ultra vires of Arms Act but if Parliament makes changes to the Act on directions of HC then it won't be. Most probably the government will be eager to make these kind of draconian changes by pointing the finger towards courts.

[spin_drift]

Is NAGRI doing anything about this?

[tiwarianurag]

Hello friends this is new from HC ..
?Court No. - 23

Case :- MISC. BENCH No. - 3268 of 2012

Petitioner :- Jitendra Singh
Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru Secy. Deptt Of Home And Others
Counsel for Petitioner :- Shailendra Kumar Singh,Anshuman Singh
Counsel for Respondent :- Govt. Advocate,A.S.G.,Csc,I.H.Farooqi

Hon'ble Sudhir Kumar Saxena,J.
Hon'ble Rakesh Srivastava,J.
1. Heard Sri Rishad Murtaza, Government Advocate and Sri Surya Bhan Pandey, Assistant Solicitor General of India.
2. Sri Chandra Prakash, Additional Director General of Police (Rules & Manual), U.P. is present.
3. An affidavit has been filed showing the status of the action taken against the persons indulged in celebratory firing. We find that despite the order passed by this Court in November, 2012, district magistrates have not yet concluded the proceedings for cancellation of Arms license of such persons. Government Advocate assures that all the district magistrates will be directed to pass appropriate order on the merits of each case within a month.
4. We had called for the stand of State Government on the recommendation made by Prof. Himanshu Rai of I.I.M., Lucknow. Committee has taken a stand that Arms license are granted under the Arms Act as per directive issued by Central Government, as such it is only Central Government which can do something in it and reduction in number of license is not possible.
5. Reluctance shown by State Government for pruning the number of Arms licenses so as to make a balance between the Arms held by State Police and citizens of State, is quite intriguing, but we are hopeful that State Government would rethink over the matter in the larger public interest and consider the recommendation made by Prof. Rai, with a positive mindset.
6. Sri Surya Bhan Pandey, Assistant Solicitor General states that he will take up the matter with the Secretary (Home), Government of India and thereafter he will inform the Court about the stand of the Central Government, on the request of the State Government made in the light of report submitted by Prof. Rai.Central Government would also give the chart containing all details, as discussed above for all the States/U.T.
7. Central Government was also directed to come out with a plan so as to strike balance between the number of Arms license held by private citizens and State Enforcement Agencies. Assistant Solicitor General would also file affidavit before next date clarifying its stand on this issue.
8. On the next date, State Government will also furnish report as to how many Arms licenses held by persons with criminal record have been cancelled and what are the future plans and methodology to deal with licenses issued to the persons having criminal antecedents.
9. It would also file Circulars/G.Os. issued in the light of report of Prof. Himanshu Rai.��
10. It is informed by Sri Chandra Prakash, ADG that a nation based data of the Arms license holders is being created, last date for which is 1st October, 2015. Let entire details of scheme launched by Central Government be placed before the Court as well as the progress, in this regard made by the State of U.P.
11. State Government despite the order passed by this Court has not furnished the list of persons holding Arms license and also security cover whether it is free or on payment. Names of such persons will be supplied on the next date.
12. We had directed the Committee to study the progress followed in other States in India. It was orally informed by Sri Chandra Prakash that only 4 or 5 States have responded and almost same procedure is followed in all the States.
13. We are not satisfied with the statement of Sri Chandra Prakash. We would like to have response of other States along with the affidavit.
14. Member-Secretary of the Committee may visit other States for ascertaining the requisite information in this regard.
15. Needless to say that our concern is that Arms should not be used as weapon of assault to kill or as status symbol but it should be used as weapon for self-defence.
16. State Government has also not clarified its stand to earmark some areas which are free from Arms where carrying of any type of Arms is prohibited like Secretariat, High Court, Airport etc. We want that Committee should apply its mind in this regard and to come out with definite stand.
17. State has also not informed about the action taken in the celebratory firing which took place recently at Collectorate, Lucknow. Action taken in this regard be also intimated.
18. We also find that regular meetings of the Committee have not been held which is not in consonance with our order. However, looking to the engagement of the officers in election of Parliament, we do not like to comment any more.
19. Sri Himanshu Rai is required to appear on the next date.
20. List this matter again on 12th November, 2014.
Order Date :- 18.9.2014

[miroflex]

It is not quite clear what the Honourable Court will do with the names of arms licensees in UP.

Will NAGRI take steps to get itself impleaded in the case and represent our views?

All the best!

[anubhav_rulez]

Respected Seniors/Fellow members,
Is there any update upon this issue, as not getting any hint here locally, asked few lawyers, they too were clueless. My AL application has reached SSP off & it will reach DM off in few days, but cause of ban...it will be dumped there for infinite period. Its very disheartning that after so much of effort/followup...Its finally in vain.