Ram Bahadur Singh vs The District Magistrate and Others

V.N. Khare, J.—On 7890 standing counsel was granted six weeks to file counter-affidavit and it was directed that thereafter the portion shall be Sis posed of firmly. No counter-affidavit has been filed. I accordingly proceed to decide this petition on merit.

The Petitioner holds a fire-arm licence. By means of this Petitioner under Article 226 of the Constitution the Petitioner has come up to this Court aliens the order dated 7-7-90 passed by District Magistrate, Deoria suspending his fire-arm licence. By the impugned order his licence has been suspended on the ground that the Petitioner is more than 72 years of age and remains often ill and as his son has connection with unsocial elements and therefore, there possibility of abuse of the fire-arm. Learned Counsel the the Petitioner has assailed the order on the ground that the ground on winch his fire-arm licence has been suspended, is untenable in law.

The first ground taken for suspension of licence is that the Petitioner is over 72 years of age and often remains ill. In Gay a Ram v. District magistrate-cum-Licening Authority, Etowah 1987 AWC 1065, it was held that the holder of licence is old by itself is no ground for revoking the licence In view of the law laid down by this Court the first ground on which the Petitioner�s licence has been suspended is wholly untenable in law.

The second ground taken in the impugned order that there is likelihood of abuse of fire-arm by the son of the Petitioner is also not tenable. In Awadesh Kumar v. District Magistrate 1989 ALR 519 it was held that mere suspicion or possibility of abuse of the fire-arm by others without any positive evidence is not a ground for suspension of the licence. In view of the law laid down by this Court the second ground for suspension of fire-arm licence also suffers from patent error of law.

In view of the above the impugned order passed by the District Magistrate, Deoria suspending the Petitioner�s fire-arm licence deserves to be quashed.

In the result the writ petition is allowed. The order dated 7-7-90 passed by the District Magistrate, Deoria is quashed. The Respondents are directed to immediately return the fire-arm to the Petitioner which was deposited by him in pursuance of the impugned order dated 7-7-90.