The Patna High Court ruled that applicants need not prove any threat to life or property to seek an arms licence, saying the Arms Act imposes no such condition. It granted relief to a man awaiting a rifle licence since 2014.
The Patna High Court clarified that an applicant seeking an arms licence is not required to prove that there is a threat to life or property as a prerequisite for consideration of the application.
In a recent order, a single-judge bench of Justice Alok Kumar Sinha observed,
“The Arms Act nowhere provides that an applicant must establish the existence of an imminent threat to his life or property as a condition precedent for consideration of his application. Equally, Section 14 does not contemplate refusal of a licence merely because the police authorities have not recorded any specific threat perception. Had the legislature intended such a requirement, the same would have found express mention in the statute. The Court cannot read into the statute a condition which the legislature itself has consciously omitted.”
Based on these observations, the High Court issued directions in favour of Brij Nandan Singh, who has been pursuing his request for the grant of a rifle licence since 2014 now for twelve years.
The court directed the District Magistrate, Buxar, to consider Singh’s application for a licence within two months.
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Singh had submitted his application in the prescribed format to the Arms Magistrate, Buxar, seeking the licence on the grounds of personal necessity and the need for protection of his life and property.
Although the police verification and recommendation were favourable, the District Magistrate, Buxar, rejected the application by an order dated 23.02.2016. The sole ground for rejection was that Singh’s annual income was Rs. 63,000, and hence he was allegedly not eligible to hold an arms licence.
Singh contended that the police report noted that his grandfather, Late Jugli Singh, was killed by Naxalites in 1987, and that another individual, Vishwanath Paswan, a servant associated with his family, was also killed in a subsequent Naxalite incident. Singh argued that these facts indicated a continuing atmosphere of insecurity affecting his family.
The High Court further found that the impugned order did not record any finding that Singh was disqualified by law from possessing firearms.
Justice Sinha noted,
“There is no finding that the petitioner is of unsound mind. There is no finding that the petitioner is for any reason unfit to possess an arm. There is equally no finding that grant of licence would endanger public peace, public safety or public interest. In absence of such findings, the statutory foundation necessary for refusal under Section 14 is absent, “
The court also remarked that the authorities were required to assess the material on record objectively, and that the rejection had been driven mainly by the absence of a specific phrase in the police report.
It observed,
“The police report itself recorded certain circumstances relied upon by the petitioner regarding incidents affecting his family. The report noted that the petitioner’s grandfather was allegedly killed by Naxalites in the year 1987 and that another person associated with the family was also killed in a subsequent incident. Whether such circumstances by themselves conclusively establish threat perception is not the issue before this Court. What is significant is that the authorities were required to objectively evaluate the entirety of the materials on record. Instead, the application came to be rejected solely because the police report did not expressly use the phrase threat perception. Such an approach reflects excessive reliance on form rather than substance.”
The legal framework governing arms licences in India is primarily contained in the Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules, 2016. Section 3 of the Act requires a valid licence to acquire or possess firearms, while Section 13 lays down the procedure for considering applications for an arms licence.
Section 14 specifies the grounds on which an application may be refused, Section 15 deals with the duration and renewal of licences, and Section 17 empowers the licensing authority to vary, suspend, or revoke a licence.
The Arms Rules, 2016 prescribe the detailed procedure relating to eligibility, documentation, verification, application forms, and licence conditions.
In its recent ruling, the Patna High Court clarified that under Sections 13 and 14 of the Arms Act, an applicant is not required to prove a threat to life or property as a mandatory condition for the grant of an arms licence unless such a requirement is expressly provided by law.