The Allahabad High Court has ruled that license holders are not required to deposit their firearms before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, stating that a blanket order for such deposits is not permissible.

Justice Abdul Moin's bench highlighted the persistent cases brought before the court where authorities were coercing firearm license holders to surrender their weapons before elections, despite the 2002 ruling in Mohd. Arif Khan vs. State of U.P., which prohibited such actions unless license holders were implicated in criminal proceedings.

The court emphasized that despite directives issued to the State Government and its district officers in Uttar Pradesh to comply with the judgment in the case of Mohd. Arif Khan, petitions continued to surface wherein authorities were pressuring firearm license holders to surrender their weapons without providing formal orders or reasons justifying the necessity of such actions.

Additionally, the court referenced a judgment from 2021 in which the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary, Home, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, were explicitly directed to guarantee that all subordinate authorities adhere to the court's directives concerning the deposit of firearms during election periods. However, despite these instructions, the court noted a lack of compliance with these directives.

"This indicates that the judgements which have been passed by the highest court of state under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and are binding on all the authorities in the State are being conveniently overlooked and are not being followed," court opined.

The court emphasized that issues that could be resolved at the local authorities' level were unnecessarily being brought before the high court, indicating the lackadaisical approach of the concerned authorities. Consequently, adopting a stern stance, the court cautioned that if further petitions were submitted wherein authorities persisted in compelling firearm license holders to surrender their weapons without issuing formal orders justifying such actions, exemplary costs would be imposed on the non-compliant state authorities.

In response to the state counsel's submission regarding the formation of a committee led by the District Magistrate in Uttar Pradesh in 2023 to verify arms licenses and oversee their deposit in line with the Election Commission of India (ECI) directives, the court remarked that even if such a committee had been established, there should be clear and compelling reasons provided in the screening committee's order justifying the necessity for firearms to be deposited.

The court directed that the State Chief Secretary and Director General of Police be informed within 24 hours of the court's order for prompt action to be taken as required.

Case Title: Ravi Shankar Tiwari And 4 Others vs State Of UP