The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of the “evil of unlicensed firearms” and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to provide information on the cases registered in the state for possession and use of such illegal weapons and the action being taken to prevent such occurrences.
“The state must indicate steps to root out the evil of unlicensed firearms in four weeks,” a bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said, while taking note of the issue.
The court made the observations while reviewing a bail petition of a man who killed a person with another co-accused by firing indiscriminately using an unlicensed weapon.
Seeking response of the UP government on the bail plea, the bench noted that “there seems to be a disturbing trend”, as it proceeded to know from the state how many cases involving unlicensed firearms were registered by the police for offences under the Arms Act or other accompanying laws.
The bench observed that possessing firearms is a recognised right in the US Constitution, but the founding fathers of our Constitution were careful to not provide for such a right.
The case moved to the Supreme Court after petitioner Rajendra Singh was denied bail by the Allahabad high court despite the co-accused being released on a regular bail. The petitioners claimed to be 73 years old and had been in jail for over five years. He had in his bail petition complained of developing medical complications due to his advanced age.
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