WPA/438/2026 of E K ARIF ALI Vs THE DISTRICT MAGISTRATE AND ANOTHER on 31 August 2026

1. The petitioner applied online on 25.02.2025 before the District Magistrate, South Andaman for renewal of his arms licence and submitted hard copy of the same before the authority on 05.03.2025. The licence of the petitioner was valid upto 20.01.2025.

2. Learned advocate for the petitioner claims that at the time of making application for renewal, the petitioner submitted the training certificate as well as the medical report.

3. A deficiency memo dated 25.05.2025 was issuedmentioning that the training certificate submitted on 14.05.2026 for renewal of arms licence was examined and it was observed that the certificate is not in the prescribed format/syllabus with mandatory training duration of 270 minutes as notified under the Arms Rules, 2016. It was also observed that no date has been mentioned in the medical certificate submitted by the petitioner.

4. It is the specific case of the petitioner that all the documents required for renewal of the arms licence were duly submitted by the petitioner. The authority illegally and arbitrarily issued the deficiency memo without looking into the papers submitted by the petitioner.

5. Prayer has been made to direct the respondent authority to pass a final order upon consideration of his application seeking renewal of his arms licence.

6. Learned advocate representing the respondents opposes the prayer of the petitioner. It has been submitted that the training certificate submitted by the petitioner is not in the prescribed format. It has also been submitted that the medical certificate submitted by the petitioner does not mention any date.

7. It has been further submitted that the medical certificate which has been submitted by the petitioner is not the one which is annexed to the writ petition.

8. Upon hearing the submissions made on behalf of the both the parties and on perusal of the documents annexed to the writ petition, it appears that the petitioner was directed to submit the documents in the prescribed format for renewal of the arms licence which was valid upto 20.01.2025.

9. The petitioner claims to have submitted the application onlinefor renewal on 25.02.2025 and submitted hard copy on 05.03.2025.

10. The authority considered the application filed by the petitioner and found the same to be deficient as regards the training certificate and the medical certificate.The petitioner would be obliged to submit the required documents in accordance with lawfor renewal of the arms licence.

11. In view of the above, the instant writ petition stands disposed of with the observation that it will be open for the petitioner to submit all necessary documents in accordance with law in the prescribed format with proper details and date.

12. In the event the petitioner submits all relevant documents, then the application filed by the petitioner seeking renewal of arms licence shall be considered by the authority, in accordance with law at the earliest, but positively within a period of six weeks from the date of submission of all documents. A reasoned order shall be passed and communicated to the petitioner immediately thereafter.

13. The writ petition stands disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs.

14. All parties are directed to act on a server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

( Amrita Sinha, J. )