Vikram Singh vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

Vikram Singh vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of with direction to the licensing authority (respondent no.2, District Magistrate, Rampur) to decide the pending arms licence application within two months of production of a certified copy of the order, failing which cost/compensation @ Rs. 100 per day of delay payable by respondent no.2 at the first instance and recoverable from the salary of erring officials, in addition to other legal remedies.

Issue for consideration

Whether the licensing authority (respondent no.2) should be directed, by writ of mandamus, to decide and consider the petitioner's pending application/representation for grant of arms licence (Revolver/Pistol). +1 more

Court's answer

Considering that the petitioner's arms licence application is pending before respondent no.2 (District Magistrate, Rampur), the licensing authority is directed to decide the application for grant of arms licence within two months from the date of production of a certified copy of the order.

Ratio / Principle

If the application is not disposed of within the two-month period, the petitioner becomes entitled to cost/compensation at Rs. 100 per day for each day of delay thereafter, to be paid by respondent no.2 at the first instance and recoverable by respondent no.2 from the salary of the erring officials; this is in addition to the other legal remedies available to the petitioner, including enforcement of the order in accordance with law.

Key takeaways

The large number of petitions before the Court seeking directions to licensing authorities to consider grant/renewal of arms licence applications indicates that such authorities are not deciding applications in a time bound manner, which may be indicative of red tapism, negligence or corrupt practices.obiter¶¶11

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Allahabad High Court (Vikram D. Chauhan, J.), WRIT - C No. 6133 of 2025, decided 03.03.2025 — Writ petition under Article-mandamus prayers seeking direction to respondent no.2 (District Magistrate, Rampur) to decide the petitioner Vikram Singh's pending application (made in 2024) and representation dated 24.09.2024 for grant of arms licence of Revolver/Pistol. The Court observed that the large number of similar petitions indicates that licensing authorities are not considering grant/renewal applications in a time bound manner, which may be indicative of red tapism, negligence or corrupt practices. Directing time-bound disposal, the Court ordered the licensing authority to decide the application within two months from production of a certified copy of the order; upon failure, the petitioner is entitled to cost/compensation @ Rs.100/- per day of delay, payable by respondent no.2 at the first instance and recoverable from the salary of the erring officials, in addition to other legal remedies including enforcement of the order. Writ petition disposed of accordingly.

Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:29071

Court No. - 33

Case :- WRIT - C No. - 6133 of 2025

Petitioner :- Vikram Singh Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Petitioner :- Dushyant Kumar Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

Hon'ble Vikram D. Chauhan,J.

Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel for the State.

The writ petition is filed with the following prayer:

"(i) Issue a writ order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent no.2 to grant arms license of Revolver/Pistol in favour of the petitioner which is pending before him.

(ii) Issue a writ order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent no.2 to decide and consider the representation of the petitioner dated 24.09.2024 regarding issuance of fire arms license of Revolver/ Pistol in favour of petitioner which is pending before him"

It is submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner has applied for grant of arms licence before the respondent no.2 in the year 2024 however, till date the aforesaid application of the petitioner has not been decided by the concerned authority.

It is to be seen that before this Court large number of petitions are being filed for directing the licencing authorities to consider the application for grant/renewal of arms licence of the applicants. The aforesaid large number of petitions are indicative of the fact that licencing authorities are not considering the applications for grant/renewal of arms licence in a time bound manner. The same may be indicative of red tapism, negligence or corrupt practices. The applications of the citizens are required to be considered by the authorities in a time bound manner so that citizens do not face any difficulty on account of pendency of their applications.

Learned Standing Counsel submits that application of the petitioner for grant of arms licence would be decided in a time bound manner.

Considering the circumstances of the case and the fact that application of the petitioner for grant of arms licence is pending consideration before the respondent no.2-District Magistrate, Rampur, it is hereby directed that application for grant of arms licence of the petitioner shall be decided by the licencing authority within a period of two months from the date of production of certified copy of this order. It is hereby also provided that in the event the aforesaid application of the petitioner for grant of arms licence is not disposed of within the period herein above granted, the petitioner would be entitled to cost/compensation @ Rs.100/per day (for each day delay after two months) which is to be paid by the respondent no. 2 at the first instance and the same would be recoverable by the respondent no. 2 from the salary of the erring officials. This cost/compensation is in addition to the other legal remedies available to the petitioner including the enforcement of the present order, accordance with law.

With the aforesaid observation/direction, the writ petition is disposed of.

Order Date :- 3.3.2025 D. Tamang

Digitally signed by :- DHIRENDRA TAMANG High Court of Judicature at Allahabad