Jammu & Kashmir High Court
M/S Bhargav Arms Company vs Ut Of J&K And Another on 21 July, 2023
Author: Moksha Khajuria Kazmi
Bench: Moksha Khajuria Kazmi
Sr. No. 131
HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT JAMMU
WP(C) No. 1862/2023
M/S Bhargav Arms Company .... Petitioner/Appellant(s)
Through:- Mr. Sachin Gupta, Advocate
V/s
UT of J&K and another .....Respondent(s)
Through:- Ms. Anu Charak, Advocate vice
Ms. Monika Kohli, Sr. AAG
CORAM: HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE MOKSHA KHAJURIA KAZMI, JUDGE
ORDER
01. In the instant petition, the controversy is with regard to issuance of printed license on Form VIII and Form IX in favour of the petitioner, despite the fact that the same is granted and approved by the official respondents. The petitioner is a licensee of license issued under Section 5 of the Arms Act on Form XI vide File No. Home/AR/149/79-IV and is running the business under name and style of M/s Bhargav Arms Company for sale, transfer and for keeping different types of arms and ammunition. The license of the petitioner stands renewed till 31.12.2023. It is stated that the statutory rules at the time of issuance of license under Section 5 of the Arms Act and as per Arms Rules, 1962, the license to be granted to the dealers was issued on Form IX, as per the rule position in the year 2015, however, the said rules were repealed after the Arms Rules, 2016 came into force and new rules and regulations were framed thereafter for issuance of license under Arms Act, 1959.
02. It is stated that after coming into force of Arms Rules, 2016, the petitioner was required to upload his license on NDAL system for generation WP(C) No. 1862/2023 Page 2 of 4 of the Unique Identification Number and also required license to be issued on Form VIII and Form IX, as per new rules and the petitioner, accordingly, submitted application for grant of new Arms License on Form VIII and Form IX on 09.06.2018.
03. It is stated that after submission of the aforesaid application, the respondent No. 2 while considering the application of the petitioner for conversion of license from Form XI to Form VIII as per new Arms Arules, 2016 recommended the case for conversion of sale and keep license Form No. XI to Form No. VIII and repair license in Form No. IX on 17.07.2019 vide Order No. 264/DMJ/2019 to respondent No. 1.
04. It is stated that despite the fact that the respondent No. 2 has recommended for issuance/conversion of license from Form XI to Form VIII, till date, the same has not been granted to the petitioner. The petitioner made numerous efforts to check the status of its application on the official website, however, the same is not in operation, as such the license of the petitioner on Form No. VIII and Form IX has not been granted as the same stands renewed up to 31.12.2023.
05. It is further stated that the official respondents on 10.04.2023 vide Circular No. 01-Home of 2023, issued further instructions in furtherance of the Arms Rules, 2016, which are reproduced as under: -
i. "The District Magistrates shall ensure that no Arms and Ammunition Dealer is allowed to carry on any trade/transaction in absence of a valid arms license in form VIII, as prescribed under Arms Rule, 2016, till the licensing process in favour of the intending prospective licensees is completed in terms of the Arms Rules, 2016;
ii. The District magistrates shall ensure that no Gunsmith is allowed to carry out any repair, conversion etc. in absence of a valid arms license in Form IX/ Form IX-A, as prescribed under the Arms Rules, 2016 till the licensing process in favour of the WP(C) No. 1862/2023 Page 3 of 4 in ten ding prospective licensees is completed in terms of the Arms Rules, 2016;
iii. The District Magistrates shall process the requests for grant of Arms Dealers and Gunsmiths licenses, strictly in terms of the applicable provisions under the Arms Rules, 2016 and based on the field verification, recommend the cases of the intending prospective licensees to the Licensing Authority (Home Department) along with all the requisite formalities."
06. It is stated that after issuance of the aforesaid circular, the official respondents have informed the petitioner that since his license is not printed on Form VIII and Form IX, as such, the petitioner does not hold a valid license and has violated the condition No. 1 of circular dated 10.04.2023 and, therefore, is not allowed to carry on any trade/transaction. The respondent No. 2 in compliance with the circular dated 10.04.2023 has passed Order no. 61-67/ARMS/DMJ/23 dated 12.07.2023, whereunder, it has been reiterated that the licenses without having license in Form VIII and Form IX in district Jammu, are directed to halt all operations till they get valid license. It is submitted that the application of the petitioner for conversion of license from Form XI to Form VIII has been recommended to respondent No. 1 in the year 2019 for grant of license on Form No. VIII and IX, however, till date, no action has been taken by the official respondents in this regard. It is stated that by no stretch of imagination, the orders passed by official respondents can be applied to the case of the petitioner, as it is evident from the facts that the respondents have already recommended and renewed the license of the petitioner on Form XI, however, have not issued the same in favour of the petitioner.
07. It is submitted that the petitioner's license has been granted by the competent authority, as pre-requisite required under the rules, and only thereafter, the official respondents have renewed the license of the petitioner till 31.12.2023 and have allowed the petitioner to carry on with his business. WP(C) No. 1862/2023 Page 4 of 4 If anything is due to the inaction of the official respondents due to which the petitioner is unable to get a print out of the same from the website, which falls under the domain of the official respondents and it is the official respondents who have to upload the said license, only after which the petitioner would be able to get a print out of the same, as such, due to an engineered default in part of the officia1 respondents cannot become reason or justification to hold that the license of the petitioner is invalid.
08. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he would feel satisfied if this petition is disposed of at this stage itself with a direction to respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to consider the pleadings made in this writ petition and pass appropriate orders.
09. In view of the aforesaid, this petition is disposed of at this stage itself with a direction to the respondents to consider the claim of the petitioner with respect to the fact that the printed license has not been issued despite the license already being granted in favour of the petitioner till 31.12.2023 and shall pass speaking order to that extent within a period of two weeks from the date a copy of this order along with copy of writ petition with annexures are served upon the respondents.
10. It is made clear that in case the respondents failed to consider the claim of the petitioner within the stipulated time period, the circular No. 01- Home of 2023 dated 10.04.2023 shall not come in the way of the petitioner for operating his business.
11. Disposed of.
(MOKSHA KHAJURIA KAZMI) JUDGE Jammu:
21.07.2023 Vishal