Blanket order to surrender arms challenged

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Friday issued notice to the Morbi district collector and Election Commission of India (ECI) after a petition challenged the notification mandating that all licence holders surrender their firearms ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
A lawyer from Morbi, Jaydip Panchotiya, holds a firearms licence. He was expected to deposit the weapon with the authorities after the district collector — following the announcement of the election schedule — issued a notification under Section 144 of the CrPC to this effect.Panchotiya challenged the notification before the HC.
Panchotiya’s advocate in the high court, Nadeem Mansuri, argued that such a blanket notification is not stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code or the Arms Act. He asserted that the district collector does not have the authority to do so. Mansuri cited a Bombay high court order which frames guidelines for the surrender of firearms during elections. It was also submitted that the ECI has instructed that the guidelines of the Bombay HC be followed.
According to the guidelines, a screening committee is to be formed in every district and police commissionerate jurisdiction for the surrender of arms as soon as elections are announced.
The district magistrate and superintendent of police form the committee in a district, while a police commissioner and a subordinate officer such as an additional commissioner of police, make up the same committee in a police commissionerate jurisdiction.
These committees begin their work immediately after the election announcement. The case of each licence holder has to be reviewed by the screening committee.
The notification issued by the Morbi collector bypasses the established procedure and is, therefore, not in accordance with the law. It also violates constitutional rights by compromising the safety of citizens through the mandated surrender of their weapons.