Kerala High Court

K.K.Ummer vs The District Collector on 10 February, 2021

         IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                            PRESENT

              THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.NAGARESH

WEDNESDAY, THE 10TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2021 / 21ST MAGHA,1942

                    WP(C).No.5254 OF 2019(F)


PETITIONER:

              K.K.UMMER,
              AGED 66 YEARS
              USHUS, KORATTIPARAMBIL HOUSE, KARANCHIRA,
              KATTOOR P.O.THRISSUR 680702.

              BY ADVS.
              SRI.AUGUSTINE JOSEPH
              SRI.K.S.ROCKEY
              SRI.TONY AUGUSTINE
              SRI.GEORGE RENOY

RESPONDENTS:

     1        THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR
              THRISSUR 680001.

     2        SUB INSPECTOR OF POLICE,
              KATTOOR, THRISSUR 680 702.

              BY GOVERNMENT PLEADER SYAMJI RAM

     THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD
ON 10.02.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
 WP(C) No.5254/2019
                                :2 :



                        JUDGMENT

~~~~~~~~~

Dated this the 10th day of February, 2021

The petitioner, who is a senior citizen residing at

Kattoor, is before this Court aggrieved by the refusal of the 1 st

respondent to renew his Arms licence.

2. The petitioner contends that he is holding a licence

under the Arms Act, 1959, since 1991. His application for

renewal of licence made on 12.12.2011, was rejected on

12.08.2012. Thereupon, the petitioner approached this Court

filing W.P.(C) No.21608/2012. Pursuant to the directions of

this Court, the licence was renewed up to 31.12.2017.

3. The petitioner applied for further renewal of Arms

licnece on 11.12.2017. The petitioner submits that though he

was heard on his application on two occasions, the 1 st

respondent did not pass any order. On 14.02.2019, police

officials required the petitioner to surrender the Arms in his

possessions since his application for renewal was rejected on WP(C) No.5254/2019

08.06.2018.

4. The petitioner would submit that the order rejecting

his application for renewal of licence, was not served on him.

The petitioner had to resort to the Right to Information Act to

get a copy of the rejection order. Ultimately, the petitioner

managed to get a copy of the order, Ext.P10, from police.

5. The petitioner has already deposited the Arms

under Section 21 of the Arms Act, 1959, before the licensed

dealer. The petitioner would contend that Ext.P10 order of

rejection is illegal and unsustainable. The rejection of an

application for Arms licence can be made only on the grounds

available in Section 14 of the Arms Act, 1959. Ext.P10 is

therefore liable to be set aside and the 1 st respondent is

compellable to renew the Arms licence of the petitioner for a

further period of three weeks, contended the petitioner.

6. The 1st respondent filed a counter affidavit and

defended the writ petition. The 1st respondent stated that on

receiving the application for Arms licence from the petitioner, a

copy of the same was forwarded to the Station House Officer, WP(C) No.5254/2019

Kattoor Police Station seeking a report. The District Police

Chief, Thrissur, as per his report dated 28.02.2018, informed

that neither the applicant nor his family has any threat. The

District Police Chief further reported that the petitioner has no

capacity to maintain the Arms properly as he has attained the

age of 69 years.

7. After receiving a report from police authorities, the

petitioner was given an opportunity of hearing. The licensing

authority was not convinced of the argument of the petitioner

that his life was under threat. Accordingly, the application was

rejected.

8. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner

and learned Government Pleader appearing for the

respondents.

9. This Court has held in the judgment in Chandran

Nair C. v. Additional District Magistrate, Kasaragod and

others [2015 (1) KLT 41] that an application for Arms licence

can be refused only on grounds stipulated in Section 14 of the

Arms Act, 1959.

WP(C) No.5254/2019

10. Section 14 of the Arms Act, 1959, reads as follows:-

"Section 14: Refusal of licences (1) Notwithstanding anything in section 13, licensing authority shall refuse to grant--

(a) a licence under section 3, section 4 or section 5 where such licence is required in respect of any prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition;

(b) a licence in any other case under Chapter II,--

(i) where such licence is required by a person whom the licensing authority has reason to believe-- (1) to be prohibited by this Act or by any other law for the time being in force from acquiring, having in his possession or carrying any arms or ammunition, or (2) to be of unsound mind, or (3) to be for any reason unfit for a licence under this Act; or

(ii) where the licensing authority deems it necessary for the security of the public peace or for public safety to refuse to grant such licence.

(2) The licensing authority shall not refuse to grant any licence to any person merely on the ground that such person does not own or possess sufficient property. (3) Where the licensing authority refuses to grant a licence to any person it shall record in writing the reasons for such refusal and furnish to that person on demand a brief statement of the same unless in any case the licensing authority is of the opinion that it will not be in the public interest to furnish such statement."

The question arising is whether rejection of Arms licence as

per Ext.P10 is in accordance with Section 14 of the Arms Act,

1959.

11. A perusal of Ext.P10 would show that the 1 st

respondent rejected the application relying on Section 14(1)(b) WP(C) No.5254/2019

(i)(3) of the Arms Act. The reason is that since the petitioner

is 69 years old, he will not have the capacity to keep the Arms

secure and therefore the conclusion is that the petitioner is

unfit for a licence.

12. The fact that the petitioner is 69 year old by itself is

not a reason to conclude that the petitioner is not having the

capacity to keep the Arms secure. Ext.P10 does not show