Madras High Court
V.Krishnamoorthy vs The Inspector Of Police on 2 September, 2025
Crl.O.P.(MD)No.557 of 2024
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED : 02.09.2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE SUNDER MOHAN
Crl.O.P.(MD).No.557 of 2024
and
Crl.M.P(MD) Nos.329 and 330 of 2024
V.Krishnamoorthy ... Petitioner/Sole Accused
Vs.
1.The Inspector of Police,
Karaikudi North Police Station,
Sivagangai District.
Crime No.289 of 2016. ...1st Respondent/Complainant
2.Mrs.Sumathi,
Special Tahsildar,
Election Flying Squad,
Karaikudi Legislative Assembly. ...2nd Respondent/Defacto
Complainant
Prayer: Criminal Original Petition is filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C., to call
for the records pertaining to the Final Report in P.R.C.No.128 of 2022 on the
file of the learned Judicial Magistrate, Karaikudi and quash the same as illegal.
For Petitioner : Mr.N.Marimuthu
for Mr.C.R.Kasi Viswanathan
For R1 : Mr.R.Meenakshi Sundaram
Additional Public Prosecutor
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Crl.O.P.(MD)No.557 of 2024
ORDER
This Criminal Original Petition has been filed to quash the charge sheet filed in P.R.C.No.128 of 2022 on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate, Karaikudi.
2. The allegation in the FIR is that, during a vehicle checkup on 11.05.2016 at about 11.40 a.m., the petitioner was found in possession of a revolver in his bike bearing Registration No.TN 63 AT 8625, which was later found to be an imitation firearm, allegedly intended to scare the general public.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that, admittedly, the arms seized from the petitioner’s possession were not firearms but imitation firearms; that the Arms Act does not prohibit possession of imitation firearms; that what is prohibited under Sec.6 of the Arms Act is the conversion of an imitation firearm into a firearm, which is not the allegation in the present case and that therefore, the offence under Sec.6 of the Arms Act is not made out.
4. Per contra, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor would submit that the expression “imitation firearm” would mean anything, which has the appearance of being a firearm, and therefore, possession of such an imitation 2/5 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 11/09/2025 03:04:12 pm ) Crl.O.P.(MD)No.557 of 2024 firearm would attract the offence under Section 6 of the Arms Act.
5. The allegation against the petitioner, as stated earlier, is that he was in possession of an imitation firearm. This fact is not disputed by the petitioner. However, the question is whether such possession would attract the offence under Section 6 of the Arms Act.
Section 6 of the Arms Act reads as follows:
6. Licence for the shortening of guns or conversion of imitation firearms into firearms.―No person shall shorten the barrel of a firearm or convert an imitation firearm into a firearm or convert from any category of firearms mentioned in the Arms Rules, 2016 into any other category of firearms unless he holds in this behalf a licence issued in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder.
Explanation.―In this section, the expression “imitation firearm” means anything which has the appearance of being a firearm, whether it is capable of discharging any shot, bullet or other missile or not.
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6. It is not the case of the prosecution that the petitioner had possessed the imitation firearm for the purpose of converting the same into a firearm. Therefore, this Court is of the view that the uncontroverted allegations made by the prosecution in this Final Report would not attract the offence under Section 6 of the Arms Act. Accordingly, the impugned final report in P.R.C.No.128 of 2022 is quashed.
7. In the result, this Criminal Original Petition is allowed. Consequently, the connected Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.
02.09.2025
NCC : Yes / No
Index : Yes / No
Internet : Yes/ No
Indu
To
1.The Inspector of Police,
Karaikudi North Police Station,
Sivagangai District.
2.The Special Tahsildar,
Election Flying Squad,
Karaikudi Legislative Assembly.
3.The Additional Public Prosecutor,
Madurai Bench of Madras High Court,
Madurai.
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Crl.O.P.(MD)No.557 of 2024
SUNDER MOHAN, J.
Indu
Crl.O.P(MD).No.557 of 2024
02.09.2025
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