Ram Shankar Tiwari Vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

Ram Shankar Tiwari Vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of with a direction that the petitioner's application for grant of arms licence be decided by the licencing authority (respondent no.2, District Collector, Prayagraj) within two months from the date of production of a certified copy of the order; failing which 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.

Issue for consideration

Whether a writ of mandamus should issue commanding respondent no.2 to sanction the petitioner's arms licence (SBBL Gun No.3448/70) on account of family heirloom transfer, applied for on 12.07.2022. +1 more

Court's answer

The licencing authority shall decide the petitioner's application for grant of arms licence within a period of two months from the date of production of a certified copy of the order.

Ratio / Principle

If the application for grant of arms licence is not disposed of within the granted period of two months, the petitioner would be entitled to cost/compensation @ Rs.100/- per day for each day of delay after two months.

Key takeaways

The cost/compensation is to be paid by respondent no.2 at the first instance and is recoverable by respondent no.2 from the salary of the erring officials.ratio¶6
Observation (in passing) that the large number of petitions seeking directions to consider arms licence grant/renewal applications indicates the licencing authorities are not deciding them in a time bound manner, which may indicate red tapism, negligence or corrupt practices.obiter¶4

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Allahabad High Court, Vikram D. Chauhan, J. (order dated 4.3.2025) disposed of WRIT - C No. 6287 of 2025 (Ram Shankar Tiwari v. State of U.P. and Another). The petitioner sought a mandamus commanding respondent no.2 to sanction an arms licence for SBBL Gun No.3448/70 (Licence No.5017/P.S. Puramufti, District Prayagraj) on account of family heirloom transfer, his application dated 12.07.2022 having remained pending before the District Collector, Prayagraj. Observing that large numbers of such petitions indicate that licencing authorities are not considering grant/renewal applications in a time bound manner, which may be indicative of red tapism, negligence or corrupt practices, and noting the learned Standing Counsel's submission that the application would be decided in a time bound manner, the Court directed that the application be decided by the licencing authority within two months from production of a certified copy of the order; failing which the petitioner would be entitled to cost/compensation @ Rs.100/- per day for each day of delay, payable by respondent no.2 at the first instance and recoverable by respondent no.2 from the salary of the erring officials. Petition disposed of with the aforesaid observation/direction.

Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:29964

Court No. - 33

Case :- WRIT - C No. - 6287 of 2025

Petitioner :- Ram Shankar Tiwari Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Petitioner :- Anil Kumar Ojha,D.K.Ojha 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:

"(a). Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding the respondent no.2 to sanction him Arms license of SBBL Gun No.3448/70 and Licence No.5017/P.S. Puramufti, District Prayagraj to the petitioner on account of family heir loom transfer in pursuant application dated 12.07.2022.

(b). Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding and directing the respondents to act in accordance with law."

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 2022, 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 Collector, Prayagraj, 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 :- 4.3.2025 D. Tamang

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