Allowed petition quashing fire arm licence cancellation order. Court held orders unsustainable as they relied solely on the fact of the petitioner's arraignment, which was later superseded by acquittal in Sessions Trial No. 270 of 2018.
Impugned orders dated 07 July 2017 and 28 November 2018 quashed; firearm licence to be restored subject to enquiry.
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Court No. - 6
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 1920 of 2019
Petitioner :- Brijesh Kumar Respondent :- State Of U P And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Satendra Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Yashwant Varma,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel.
This petition impugns the orders dated 07 July 2017 and 28 November 2018. In terms of the original order, the Licensing Authority has proceeded to cancel the fire arm licence held by the petitioner. That order has been affirmed in appeal. The sole ground which has weighed with the respondents in proceeding to cancel the fire arm licence was the arraignment of the petitioner in a criminal case which ultimately came to be registered as Sessions Trial No. 270 of 2018. In those proceedings the petitioner was charged for commission of an offence under Section 307 IPC. The aforesaid case has ultimately ended in a judgment of acquittal entered by the Sessions Judge on 02 January 2019. The Sessions Judge while acquitting the petitioner has taken into account the evidence of P.W.-1 who denied any altercation taking place and further denied the use of the fire arm by the petitioner on the date of the incident. Since the prosecution had failed to establish the charge as levelled and the main informant himself had retracted from the statements as noted in the first information report, the Sessions Judge proceeded to acquit the petitioner. It is evident that the orders impugned came to be rendered prior to the judgment of acquittal being delivered by the Sessions Judge of 02 January 2019. However since the orders impugned rest solely on the fact of the petitioner being named in the criminal
case in question, the Court finds itself unable to sustain those order in light of the subsequent developments.
Accordingly the instant writ petition is allowed . The impugned orders dated 07 July 2017 and 28 November 2018 are hereby quashed. The Licensing Authority shall consequently proceed to restore the fire arm licence of the petitioner subject to requisite enquiry being undertaken that no other adverse material exists on the record against the petitioner.
Order Date :- 12.9.2019 faraz
2 issues framed by the court
Whether cancellation of fire arm licence based on pending criminal charges can be sustained after the petitioner is acquitted.
Whether to quash the licence cancellation order in light of the acquittal.
2 provisions across 2 enactments
Brijesh Kumar
State Of U P
3 Others
Yashwant Varma
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
