Basis of ban on the import of firearms in India in 1986

[ankur_ank007]

Dear Learned Friends,

I know this subject has been discussed a million times in the forum, but again I am trying to revive the same discussion. I was going through an article published in "Hindustan Times" about the ban of Import of Arms in India even when the IOF manufacture guns of the cheapest quality in the world.

Can someone advise me ,in legal light, why was the import of firearms banned in 1986? Does this not interfere with our right to possess a quality product on the best available price? Someone advised me that this ban was on the recomendation of Ministry of Finance! Is it true? Also, does this ban does not mock the "Fair Competition Act" by implementing this ban on all the other overseas "Quality Arms Manufacturers"?


http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new ... 37974.aspx

[nagarifle]

so the story goes, some individual was importing arms and selling them.[two or three arms] round about the Delhi genocide of 84, so the FM banned imports, thats the head and the tail of it, as i know it.

[dr.jayakumar]

so the story goes, some individual was importing arms and selling them.[two or three arms] round about the Delhi genocide of 84, so the FM banned imports, thats the head and the tail of it, as i know it.

thats the truth,nothing more to add.
regards
dr.jk

[ankur_ank007]

so the story goes, some individual was importing arms and selling them.[two or three arms] round about the Delhi genocide of 84, so the FM banned imports, thats the head and the tail of it, as i know it.

thats the truth,nothing more to add.
regards
dr.jk

Dear Sir,

I would like to quote the words of the above article in my way and say;

India produces the shoddiest guns in the world and sells them at ridiculously high rates. This is precisely the reason why no shooter worth his salt is ever seen using an Indian weapon, says skeet shooter Baba PS Sodhi. But then, import of foreign-made weapons was banned in 1986. Today, only national-level shooters who strike a minimum-qualification score are allowed to import weapons duty-free.If the government charged three times the price of the gun as import duty, it would still cost the licence-holder less. Besides, the gun would then be registered with the authorities. As of now, 10 to 25-year-old imported guns are in circulation in the black market. And these are still better than new, frustratingly expensive Indian guns, dealers say. “An Indian gun that costs Rs 60,000 does not even sell for Rs 6,000 in the international market, and its quality is worse than that of a 1960-make imported gun.
I would like to know on what basis import of firearms was banned in India in 1986, on the recommendation of Ministry of Finance of the Union Government of India? Is it not like forcing the consumers to pay heavy premium price for the weapons manufactured by IOF which are known for its cheapest quality in the world? Also, does this ban not interfering the very reason to form Competition Commission of India and mocking the very soul of the idea of Consumer Rights Protection?

How can such a ban by the government of India can be called rightful in the light of the constitution of India?


Regards,

[renjith747]

How can such a ban by the government of India can be called rightful in the light of the constitution of India?

Am not sure whether it is judicious or not.But if you go through the news by dna india dated on 9 June 2010 you will understand the depth of the problem and the judgement of supreme court regarding the import.

The Supreme Court has held that a person cannot claim any right to import fire arms from abroad without a proper license issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, as prescribed under the Centre's EXIM (export import) policy.

A bench of justices RV Raveendran and RM Lodha said if the government has framed a policy to restrict the import of arms only to renowned shooters and rifle clubs, then it cannot be challenged as being illegal.

"What is important to be noticed is that in the light of the Exim Policy, the import of firearms is permissible only against an import licence issued by the DGFT to renowned shooters/rifle clubs for their own use on the recommendation of the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports and the appellant has been denied import licence because he is not covered by this category," the bench said in a judgement.

The apex court passed the judgement while dismissing the appeal filed by Anirudh Singh Katoch challenging a verdict of the Delhi High Court to detain three firearms brought by him in his baggage after he returned from the US, where he went for studies and worked briefly.

Katoch had brought along with him three fire arms-- Walther PPKS Pistol, NPB Rifle and a DBBL gun, on the ground that he possessed a valid license under the Arms Act.

However, the Customs authorities confiscated the weapons and his writ petition challenging the confiscation was dismissed by the high court which interpreted the rules to state that a person has no inherent right to import arms unless permitted by the DGFT.

Aggrieved, he appealed in the apex court.

Dismissing the appeal, the apex court said, "The Division Bench has rightly considered the provisions contained in Customs Act, 1962, Baggage Rules, 1959 Act and Rules framed thereunder, 1992 Act and the Exim Policy and did not commit any error in holding that a person is not entitled by virtue of 1959 Act or the Rules framed thereunder to bring into India such licensed firearms, if any provision of law prohibits or restricts the bringing of such articles."

Link http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-go ... rt-1394106

Regards
Renjith

[ankur_ank007]

How can such a ban by the government of India can be called rightful in the light of the constitution of India?

Am not sure whether it is judicious or not.But if you go through the news by dna india dated on 9 June 2010 you will understand the depth of the problem and the judgement of supreme court regarding the import.

The Supreme Court has held that a person cannot claim any right to import fire arms from abroad without a proper license issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, as prescribed under the Centre's EXIM (export import) policy.

A bench of justices RV Raveendran and RM Lodha said if the government has framed a policy to restrict the import of arms only to renowned shooters and rifle clubs, then it cannot be challenged as being illegal.

"What is important to be noticed is that in the light of the Exim Policy, the import of firearms is permissible only against an import licence issued by the DGFT to renowned shooters/rifle clubs for their own use on the recommendation of the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports and the appellant has been denied import licence because he is not covered by this category," the bench said in a judgement.

The apex court passed the judgement while dismissing the appeal filed by Anirudh Singh Katoch challenging a verdict of the Delhi High Court to detain three firearms brought by him in his baggage after he returned from the US, where he went for studies and worked briefly.

Katoch had brought along with him three fire arms-- Walther PPKS Pistol, NPB Rifle and a DBBL gun, on the ground that he possessed a valid license under the Arms Act.

However, the Customs authorities confiscated the weapons and his writ petition challenging the confiscation was dismissed by the high court which interpreted the rules to state that a person has no inherent right to import arms unless permitted by the DGFT.

Aggrieved, he appealed in the apex court.

Dismissing the appeal, the apex court said, "The Division Bench has rightly considered the provisions contained in Customs Act, 1962, Baggage Rules, 1959 Act and Rules framed thereunder, 1992 Act and the Exim Policy and did not commit any error in holding that a person is not entitled by virtue of 1959 Act or the Rules framed thereunder to bring into India such licensed firearms, if any provision of law prohibits or restricts the bringing of such articles."

Link http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-go ... rt-1394106

Regards
Renjith

Dear Sir,

This is not what I am trying to point out. What about the fair competition and protection of consumer rights. This case is, one Mr. Anirudh Singh Katoch tried to import the weapons and the weapons were confiscated on the ground of existing laws however what I am trying to say is the Existing laws are against the rights of a person as a consumer as well as its against the soul of Fair Competition. The ban could have been justifiable in case IOF produced quality weapon and was under threat from foreign manufacturers and the IOFB might have been under such policy for the sake of protectionism, but its a naked truth that the products from IOF are incompetent, substandard and piece of trash which are forcibly being sold on a extremely premium price because the supply is much much lesser than demand and IOF has a monopoly.
This has resulted into unthinkable black marketing of foreign made firearms. I went to a gun dealer in Lucknow at Latouche road (I won't reveal the name of the shop) with my uncle to purchase a Walther PPK pistol on his licence, it was a 1972 make which we wanted to purchase, the asked price was 4.8 lacs and the dealer wanted to issue an invoice of only 52K. This is what happening in India if the legislatures, executives and judiciary can see.

Regards,

[renjith747]

What you are now conveying the idea is that consumer rights should be considered and a fair competition in market should be there by put an end to monopoly of IOF, is it right?.Yes it is understood that quality of products produced by IOF is not good as foreign made ones, the quality of the product is different to different people, some gives importance to accuracy rather than finish of rifle.I know people who scored better points with IOF .22 rifle comparing with CZ .22.we cannot blame IOF regarding this.I dont think we can question the bad finish of rifle/revolver of IOF in court.

IOF is the monopoly in arms market in India for the time being.Things may change after some time if the government tries to bring new policy like make in India or reopen imports.If it happens we people of India get good quality products for the price which we pay for it.

The above court judgement says that we cannot question the EXIM policy in court to import a weapon of our choice.But arms act says terms of import by a licensed person regardless he should be a renowned shot or it should be a rifle club and the court did not saw that point.Please correct me if am wrong.

[goodboy_mentor]

The above court judgement says that we cannot question the EXIM policy in court to import a weapon of our choice.But arms act says terms of import by a licensed person regardless he should be a renowned shot or it should be a rifle club and the court did not saw that point.Please correct me if am wrong.

The clause in Arms Act that allows import for personal use flows from personal liberty under Article 21. Supreme Court erred in this. Supreme Court is not infallible.

[ankur_ank007]

The above court judgement says that we cannot question the EXIM policy in court to import a weapon of our choice.But arms act says terms of import by a licensed person regardless he should be a renowned shot or it should be a rifle club and the court did not saw that point.Please correct me if am wrong.

The clause in Arms Act that allows import for personal use flows from personal liberty under Article 21. Supreme Court erred in this. Supreme Court is not infallible.

Hi,

A review petition could have been filed.

Regards,

[Rrahulkumar]

Can we invoke the MRTP Act against this EXIM policy? Since it restricts my consumer rights?

Cheers..!
RK

[estousandy]

This seems to be the right time to try for some reforms. The Arms Act is almost in good shape but it is the exim policy that is acting up for air arms, firearms as well as replica toys.

Rahul, MRTP Act also says this:

"Unless the Central Government otherwise directs, this act shall not apply to:

a. Any undertaking owned or controlled by the Government Company,

b. Any undertaking owned or controlled by the Government,"

[Rrahulkumar]

This seems to be the right time to try for some reforms. The Arms Act is almost in good shape but it is the exim policy that is acting up for air arms, firearms as well as replica toys.

Rahul, MRTP Act also says this:

"Unless the Central Government otherwise directs, this act shall not apply to:

Any undertaking owned or controlled by the Government Company,"

[emoji35] [emoji35] [emoji35] [emoji35]

Cheers..!
RK

[mundaire]

By the logic given here, pretty much every commodity and product should be freely importable - only then can you say that the consumer has free choice! However, this means accepting that the government has no authority to regulate any imports or for that matter any commerce, other than to ensure that it is free & fair... I very much doubt any such challenge to the ban on arms & ammunition imports will fly in a court of law.

Allow me to give this discussion a different twist.

While arms license holders see the ban on imports as the only thing holding them back from owning their dream guns, they tend to forget that their community is a minuscule minority in India and thus their desires are of little interest to those in power.

Those who have been denied an arms license (usually for no justifiable reasons) are many many times their number. Those who never even applied for an arms license, daunted by the harassment of the process and/ or the astronomical prices (of arms & ammunition) prevailing in India would be an even greater number.

So while the total number of people who may desire to own a legal firearm in India is large, that number is NOT represented by the total number of arms licenses in circulation.

You want better products? You want imports to be opened?

Then FIRST you need to address the above problem. Once there are 1 million additional arms licensees out there with nothing worthwhile to buy, the clamour for change will be louder... as the number goes up to 10 million it will be absolutely deafening!!

To put the above figures in perspective some years back there were over 100,000 arms license applications PENDING in just one city (Lucknow). Clear the backlog of just 10-15 cities and you have over a million new arms licensees, clear the all India backlog and the above figure of 10 million will turn out to be a conservative one.

The way I see it, that's the only way things will change for the better....

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[estousandy]

So never!

Since the resolution involves clearing of backlogs, I guess this case can now be thrown out of our courtroom.

[Rrahulkumar]

You want better products? You want imports to be opened?

Then FIRST you need to address the above problem. Once there are 1 million additional arms licensees out there with nothing worthwhile to buy, the clamour for change will be louder... as the number goes up to 10 million it will be absolutely deafening!!

To put the above figures in perspective some years back there were over 100,000 arms license applications PENDING in just one city (Lucknow). Clear the backlog of just 10-15 cities and you have over a million new arms licensees, clear the all India backlog and the above figure of 10 million will turn out to be a conservative one.

The way I see it, that's the only way things will change for the better....

Cheers!
Abhijeet

I'm in total agreement with the points you raised, and I'm definitely sure NAGRI would have considered all these aspects in their fight to RKBA.

I have been reading a lot on this forum about the convoluted system used by govt to curtail my rights. And though I desperately want to own arms sometime in my life, I do not want to jeopardise the cause of NAGRI in any way.

Since the likes of Ankur and others are eager to take up the cause, it would really help if the developments on this front are known to all periodically so our fight is collective and in the right direction instead of sporadic outbursts which will only dampen the spirit of individuals in case of a setback.

Cheers..!
RK