Getting firearm license is not a matter of right: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday observed that licence to carry firearms is not a right of an individual but a matter of discretion of the government authorities to be allowed based on threat perception which will have to be proved. .A bench of Justices AS Gadkari and PD Naik was hearing a plea filed by a lawyer who sought arms license citing threat to his life. Justice Gadkari pointed out that a license for arms could not be granted merely on a threat perception and that the threat will have to be shown to the Court. “You will have to point out the threat perception based on which you are seeking arms license. What you are asking for is ultimately a license, it is not a right,” the judge said.The Court, therefore, asked the lawyer to elaborate why he thought there was threat to his life..The lawyer, advocate Amritpal Singh Khalsa, pointed out that while he was in Sikkim for arguing a case, he had received a threatening message. He also claimed to have been at the receiving end of an assault in Sikkim. Justice Gadkari said Khalsa ought to have approached the State government for protection or should have chosen not to accept the case in case of threat. "Don't go there, don't accept such briefs. Go and seek protection from the State government where such an attack took place,” the judge said. Justice Gadkari pointed out that a license for arms could not be granted merely on threat perception and that the threat will have to be proved before the court..Khalsa had filed the writ petition in February 2021 seeking directions to the licensing authority to hear his application for arms license at the earliest.He claimed that he handles sensitive cases as a lawyer and an unsuccessful client may end up harming him. He had applied to the Commissioner of Thane Police, a licensing authority under the Arms Act, seeking an arms license in January 2020. However, his application had been kept pending for over a year. The High Court had then directed the authority to decide his application within 6 weeks. In June 2021, the authority rejected his application after which he approached the additional Chief Secretary, Home Department of Maharashtra, the appellate authority.The Commissioner of Thane Police, in its reply opposing the plea, stated that without any sufficient ground like maintaining public peace or public safety at large, it cannot issue arms license. The additional Chief Secretary also replied that Khalsa failed to produce any cogent documentary evidence in respect of assault at Sikkim on him.