Allahabad HC seeks details of arms licences to influential people despite criminal cases

THe Allahabad heights margaret court has asked the Uttar Pradesh regime to bring home the bacon inside information of the arms licences issued to politicians Raghuraj Pratap Singh, Dhananjay Singh, Brij Bhushan Singh, Sushil Singh, and 15 other influential people who hold them despite pending criminal cases. Many of the 19 are known as bahubalis or strongmen in Uttar Pradesh politics and include former and serving lawmakers.“It is the prima facie view of this court that the public display of weapons may create an illusion of dominance, strength, and protection, but it often disrupts social harmony and generates fear and insecurity among ordinary people,” said Justice Vinod Diwakar as he heard a petition of jeweller Jai Shankar against the Bhadohi district magistrate’s rejection of his arms licence application after an unexplained delay of almost four years.He said carrying guns is sometimes justified in the name of self-defence, but weapons that become instruments of intimidation promote fear rather than genuine security. “A society in which armed individuals assert dominance through visible force and threats does not become more free or peaceful.”The court said that it erodes public trust, weakens the sense of safety, and disturbs civic peace. “True self-defence is intended to preserve life and maintain order, not to transform public spaces into environments of dominance and fear. For this reason, a culture that glorifies guns and intimidation cannot be regarded as conducive to a peaceful and rule-bound society.”The court named the 19 influential people, saying it deemed it appropriate to seek information about them to bring clarity and remove ambiguity, without commenting on any individual’s credentials or political and social activities.Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiya, is a lawmaker and heads the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik). Dhananjay Singh is a former lawmaker and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh a six-time former parliamentarian. Sushil Singh is a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker.In an affidavit, the state government said there were over a million arms licences in the state as of the date. As many as 23,407 applications for arms licences under different categories were pending along with 1,738 appeals against their rejection.The affidavit said 20,960 families have more than one arms licence in the state. In 6,062 cases, licences were granted to people with two or more criminal cases. The court asked the government to detail pending criminal cases against such licence holders as well as their family members holding arms licences. It pointed out that the police have failed to furnish details of certain influential individuals wielding substantial social and political influence. The court said that relevant particulars concerning such people have been concealed.On March 11, the court granted one week to the state government to revisit its policy relating to the grant and review of arms licences, particularly in respect of those with criminal antecedents. The court directed the state government to furnish district-wise, police station-wise, and name-wise details of arms licence holders facing two or more criminal cases.