Lucknow: Licensed gun owners of UP have got a big relief in the Lok Sabha elections. Now everyone will not have to submit weapons in the elections. If anyone is a threat to law and order, a screening committee can be formed for him and the person concerned can be asked to deposit his arms after explaining the reason. These orders were given by the Lucknow bench of the High Court on March 22, 2024, during the hearing of the petition of Ravi Shankar Tiwari and others.
During the elections, the administration used to collect everyone’s weapons. The decision of the High Court was in 2022 itself that a general order cannot be issued and weapons should not be asked to be deposited. This time the order has repeated its old order. Due to non-compliance of the order, a person from Amethi had filed a petition, on which the court has commented.
Justice Abdul Moin gave this decision in the hearing of petition number 2844/2024 of Ravi Shankar Tiwari vs UP State, District Officer Amethi and three others. The Allahabad High Court said that the state cannot ask people to deposit weapons on the basis of security measures in elections.
In the order issued, it has been said that if any weapon holder is considered to be a threat to law and order, his license can be deposited, but for this he will also have to give the reason for depositing the weapons by the screening committee. The court said in its order that a screening committee should be formed under the chairmanship of DM. In which SP, ADM and ASP should be kept as members.
