Jammu & Kashmir High Court
M/S Pranav Arms Corporation vs Ut Of Jammu And Kashmir And on 2 August, 2023
Author: Sanjeev Kumar
Bench: Sanjeev Kumar
HIGH COURT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT JAMMU
WP(C ) No.1960/2023
M/S Pranav Arms Corporation
....petitioner(s)
Through :- Mr. Sachin Gupta Advocate.
UT of Jammu and Kashmir and
another
....Respondent(s)
Through :- Ms. Monika Kohli Sr. AAG.
Coram: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV KUMAR, JUDGE
ORDER(ORAL)
1 Petitioner claims that he is a licensee of licence issued under Section 5 of the Arms Act, 1959 on Form XI vide Licence No. HD (Arms)SAK/8/78/J&K and is running the business under the name and style of M/S Hem Raj Arms Dealer, for sale, transfer and for keeping different types of arms and ammunition. The license of the petitioner stands renewed till 31.03.2024. It is submitted that as per the statutory rules at the time of issuance of license under Section 5 of the Arms Act and as per Arms Rules, 1962, the licences, to be granted to the dealers, were 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 However, the said rules were repealed after the Arms Rules, 2016 came into force and new rules and regulations were framed thereafter for issuance of license under Arms Act, 1959. 2
02. It is submitted that, after coming into force of Arms Rules, 2016, the petitioner was required to upload its license on NDAL system for generation 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.
03. The petitioner submits that after fulfilling all the requisite formalities as stipulated under Arms Rules, 2016, the official respondents approved the application of the petitioner for grant of license on Form VIII and Form IX and granted the same in favour of the petitioner, which was renewed till 31.03.2024. It is contended 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 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 3 licensees to the Licensing Authority (Home Department) along with all the requisite formalities."
05. It is submitted 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 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 in district Jammu, are directed to halt all operations till they get valid license. It is submitted here that the petitioner has been granted license on Form VIII, however, the same is not printed. It is stated that, by no stretch of imagination, the orders passed by official respondents be applied to the case of the petitioner, as it is evident from the facts that the respondents have already granted license to the petitioner on Form VIII, however, have not uploaded the same on their website due to which the petitioner is unable to access the same.
06. 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 to handover a printed copy on Form VIII and Form IX. 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 on part 4 of the officia1 respondents cannot become reason or justification to hold that the license of the petitioner is invalid.
07. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he would feel satisfied if this petition is disposed of at this stage with a direction to respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to consider the case of the petitioner as projected in this writ petition and pass appropriate orders.
08. 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 licence has not been issued despite the licence already having been granted in favour of the petitioner till 31.03.2024 and shall pass speaking order to that extent, within a period of two weeks from the date a copy of this order along with complete paper book is served upon the respondents.
09. It is made clear that in case the respondents have failed to consider the claim of the petitioner within the stipulated time period, Circular No. 01- Home of 2023 dated 10.04.2023 shall not come in the way of the petitioner for operating his business.
(Sanjeev Kumar) Judge Jammu 02.08.2023 Sanjeev whether order is speaking:Yes Whether order is reportable:Yes/No