- The Gujarat High Court has ruled that a licence to possess a firearm under the Arms Act cannot be cancelled for reasons that are unrelated to the Act's provisions and have no bearing on the decision.
- The Bench of Justice AS Supehia also stated that the authority could not have withdrawn the Applicant's licence based only on the fact that he had not received any threats or been the victim of an assault.
- The Petitioner was in possession of a firearms licence and had applied for its renewal in accordance with the Arms Act; however, the request was denied, and his licence was cancelled with the justification that he could call for police protection if necessary and a telephone was available.
- The petitioner asserted that the grounds mentioned by the authority are not covered by Sections 13 (Grant of licences) and 14 (Refusal of licences) of the Act. In contrast, the AGP argued that the Petitioner had a different legal option to contest the contested order by appealing to the Secretary of the Home Department.
- The Bench stated that there was undisputed information that the Petitioner had a licence in 1997.
- The Bench concluded that the authority had not even "remotely thought fit" to consider the matter in accordance with the requirements of Section 17(3) of the Act.
- The licence cannot be cancelled for reasons that are unrelated to the act's provisions and should have some nexus with the reasons for refusal.
- As a result, the respondent authority's contested order dated 29.09.2021 deserves to be quashed and overturned because it was made in violation of the Act's provisions and on wholly irrelevant reasons.
- The matter was therefore sent back for further assessment in conformity with the law.
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