MHA's time table to implement the amendments to the Arms Act

[winnie_the_pooh]

http://www.mha.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?Id_Pk=568

Action Plan III(October 2009-March 2010) on Page 32-33


2. Proposal to delete proviso below Section 13(2A) of the Arms Act

(a) Proposal to delete the proviso below Section 13(2A) of the Arms Act has been approved in principle by Hon’ble HM.

(b) Obtaining concurrence of Ministry of Law for which the file has already been referred to them. 21-12-2009

(c) Submission of Cabinet Note to Cabinet Secretariat after final approval by Hon’ble HM.
(Translation of the Note in Hindi is also required to be done)

(d) Preparation of Draft Bill in consultation with Ministry of Law.

(e) Approaching Parliament for amendment of the Arms Act.31.12.2009
Within 10 days from the date of receipt of Cabinet approval.28.02.2010

3. Amendment of the Arms Rules with the approval of Hon’ble HM. 28.02.2010

4. Remaining issues to be settled by issue of advisories to the State Governments and other concerned 28.02.2010

[nagarifle]

they sure are moving in the wrong direction.

-- Sun Feb 28, 2010 22:32 --

does this means sec 13 (2 a) which is ? can any one highlight what is the Section 13 (2A) say in the act. as this below does not make it clear. thanks (looks like another sneaky bid before the holi puja)

http://www.abhijeetsingh.com/arms/india ... r_3_4.html
Home > Arms & the Man > Gun Ownership in India > Arms Laws in India > Indian Arms Act 1959
Indian Arms Act 1959
CHAPTER III - PROVISIONS RELATING TO LICENCES
13. Grant of licences

1) An application for the grant of a licence under Chapter II shall be made to the licensing authority and shall be in such form, contain such particulars and be accompanied by such fee, if any, as may be prescribed.

(2) On receipt of an application, the licensing authority, after making such inquiry, if any, as it may consider necessary, shall, subject to the other provisions of this Chapter, by order in writing either grant the licence or refuse to grant the same.

(3) The licensing authority shall grant---

(a) a licence under section 3 where the licence is required---

(i) by a citizen of India in respect of a smooth bore gun having a barrel of not less than twenty inches in length to be used for protection or sport or in respect of a muzzle loading gun to be used for bona fide crop protection:

Provided that where having regard to the circumstances of any case, the licensing authority is satisfied that a muzzle loading gun will not be sufficient for crop protection, the licensing authority may grant a licence in respect of any other smooth bore gun as aforesaid for such protection, or

(ii) in respect of a point 22 bore rifle or an air rifle to be used for target practice by a member of a rifle club or rifle association licensed or recognised by the Central Government;

[goodboy_mentor]

you got it correct, basically MHA does not want 12 bore shot gun and .22 rifle licenses to be issued for crop protection or sport. Basically they want to keep only 13(2b):

(b) a licence under section 3 in any other case or a licence under section 4, section 5, section 6, section 10 or section 12, if the licensing authority is satisfied that the person by whom the licence is required has a good reason for obtaining the same.

Means one has to have "good reason" which is understandable, usually the following 3 types will have "good reason":
a) well connected will have "good reason"
b)those who can grease the palms will have "good reason"
c)those who have received "threat" will have "good reason"(*conditions apply: the discretionary powers of licensing authority)

Rest of the people forget about self defense, sport or crop protection.

[nagarifle]

thanks GM

thats means not skeet shooting etc and no more gold medals? talk about shooting one self in the foot.

actually what this looks like a curbing .22 etc which seems ok and no great lose, but its like creeping cancer which comes slowly and with out warning to kill.

[goodboy_mentor]

Yes no doubt this is a creeping cancer, which needs to be treated. MHA very cleverly wants to slowly and steadily chip away whatever legal rights citizens have. It wants to undermine the main aims and the objectives of Arms Act 1959 itself.

(b)(ii) that weapons of self-defence are available for all citizens under license unless their antecedents or propensities do not entitle them for the privilige;and

(iii)that firearms required for training purposes and ordinary civilians are made more easily available on permits;....

Ref: http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2779
Also MHA wants to cleverly undermine the judgments of Hon'ble Courts which equate the right to keep and bear arms with the Fundamental Right to Life guaranteed under article 21 of the Constitution of India.

judgment of Mr. Justice M.Katju in CMWP No.4723 of 1993 (reported in AIR 1993 ALLAHABAD 291) wherein right to carry non-prohibited firearms is treated to be embedded in right to life, hence a Fundamental Right under article 21 of the Constitution of India; it is further ruled that Licence for non-prohibited arms is to be ordinarily allowed except in case of heinous offence.

Ref: http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3366

[nagarifle]

i understand what the judge has said, however it the MHA remove the the clauses, then the question would be what can the court do?

[goodboy_mentor]

Though I am not a lawyer, but as per my understanding, removal of section 13(2A) will not affect any of the judgments of courts. Neither can courts do much to strike down the amendment if done by parliament. On paper the removal of 13(2a) will not apparently violate any rights. But it will increase practical problems for people seeking Arms Licenses.
If MHA wants to remove section 13(2A), Arms Act 1959 amendment needs to be presented in Lok Sabha. I was not able to locate any amendment for Arms Act 1959 presented from 22.2.2010 to 26.2.2010 at:
http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Business/l ... rrent.aspx
http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Business/B ... rrent.aspx

The updated Arms Act 1959 is available at http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/arms%20act-1959.pdf it has the section 13(2a) clearly mentioned. In our previous posts we were not able to get complete clause, probably as the copy of Arms Act 1959 which we referred was not updated. I am mentioning the section 13(2a) below:

(2A) The licensing authority, after such inquiry, if any, as it may consider necessary, and after considering the report received under sub-section (2), shall, subject to the other provisions of this Chapter, by order in writing either grant the licence or refuse to grant the same:
Provided that where the officer in charge of the nearest police station does not send his report on the application within the prescribed time, the licensing authority may, if it deems fit, make such order, after the expiry of the prescribed time, without further waiting for that report.]

I have checked the document at http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/DAAM-PolicyI ... 211209.pdf for proposed amendments which we all have already opposed(Ref: http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7913). Read page 3 of 14 of DAAM-PolicyIndividuals-211209.pdf, it mentions about section 13(2a) It is about police verification, as per section 13(2a) if police report not done within time limit, licensing authority can go ahead with issuing license if it deems fit. MHA wanted to cleverly take away the power of licensing authority to issue the license if police fails to submit report within time. Licensing Authority will just send reminders only and will have to wait till eternity for "police report " to come, in order to issue any license. In other words only the well connected and those who can grease the palms of police will have the police report submitted in time. Other applications will languish for eternity waiting for the "police report" to come.

[winnie_the_pooh]

Section 13 2(a) relates to police verification prior to grant of a license.The specific provision that the MHA wants to be deleted is the one by which the licensing authority was authorized to grant a license if the police report was not forthcoming.The MHA wants that the police should have the final say on whether a license is to be granted or not.