Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery, while dismissing a petition filed by one Akhilesh Kumar, refused to interfere with the cancellation of arms licence issued to him, after the holder failed to account for 757 missing cartridges.

The court said that an arms licence is a privilege subject to strict statutory compliance and upheld the orders of both the licensing authority and the appellate authority.

“An arms licence being a privilege is only issued when the petitioner undertakes that strict conditions of the licence shall be complied with,” Justice Shamshery observed.

The petitioner had been granted an arms licence in 2000. During an inspection in 2019, authorities sought details of his ammunition usage. According to the petitioner’s counsel, there was no mandatory requirement to preserve ‘used cartridges’ or to maintain details thereof in compliance of 2018 notification in this regard. He said the notification was not applicable on the petitioner who was granted arms licence in 2000.

According to the petitioner, he had purchased 857 cartridges over the years but could only produce 57 live cartridges and 33 empty shells. He claimed the remaining 757 cartridges were used for target practice, weddings, Chhath Puja and Durga Puja.

Unsatisfied with the explanation and the lack of records, the licensing authority cancelled his licence under Section 17 of the Arms Act. Thereafter, the petitioner challenged cancellation of his licence before high court on the ground that preserving used cartridges was not mandatory when his licence was issued in the year 2000.

The court in its order dated July 29, observed: “The petitioner is not allowed to use a licenced firearm for the purpose of joy firing as in the present case firearm was misused in marriage and religious festivals….”, adding that failing to account for 757 cartridges established clear misuse and fully justified the cancellation of the licence.