SC imposes ₹10k fine 30 states, UTs for not acting on firearm sales

The Supreme Court on Thursday slapped a cost of ₹10,000 on over 30 statesand union territories for not complying with its order directing them to come out with an action plan to prevent proliferation and sale of unlicensed, illegal firearms used in crimes.

With only Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Tripura coming up with action plans, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and SC Sharma expressed displeasure over the lack of compliance of its November 7, 2024 order.

“We grant some more time for the other states and UTs to submit an action plan, subject to deposit of cost of ₹10,000 payable to the Supreme Court Mediation Centre within two weeks.” The court directed the responses to be filed in six weeks and said, “Only if we impose cost, action plans will come.”

The court order came in a bail petition related to a murder case in Uttar Pradesh in which illegal arms were used . The court expanded the scope of the petition and sought responses from all states and UTs on the steps being taken to control the menace of illegal weapons.

The November 7 order required states and UTs to constitute a committee headed by chief secretary to frame an action plan to crack down on illegal firearms.

The court granted time of 10 weeks for them to produce the plan, posting the matter specifically on January 30, observed as Martyrs Day. “We deliberately fixed the date today when Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead this day in the year 1948,” the court said.

Senior advocate S Nagamuthu assisting the court as amicus curiae along with advocate Anish R Shah said that the states should be saddled with exemplary cost for neglecting orders of the top court. According to him, two other states of Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh have also filed responses but the court failed to find any specific action plan in their reply. Punjab told the court that a meeting of the committee headed by chief secretary was held but the action plan is yet to be finalised.

Nagamuthu pointed out that some of the states have not even bothered to constitute a committee to frame an action plan.

The court order required all states and UTs to constitute a five-member committee headed by chief secretary and comprising the home and law secretaries, the state DGP or inspector general of police and an expert in the field to be nominated by the chief secretary.

The committee was required to come out with an action plan proposing a way forward for effective implementation of the law to curb the use of illegal weapons in crimes.

As per the amicus’ report, in Bihar, the state government discovered 91 illegal firearm manufacturing units in Munger district between 2017 and 2022. The police seized 4,188 illegal weapons in 2022 as compared to 4,021 in the year 2021 and 3,166 in 2020.

The most startling results came from Haryana which reported more than 34,000 cases involving illegal arms and unlicensed weapons in the past decade (2013 to 2022). In the past five years, the state police recovered nearly 13,000 illegal pistols and about 4,000 country made pistols or katta.

The amicus pointed out the need for having a committee of experts that will consider this issue comprehensively . The court also received suggestions from the Centre and states in this regard.

The court directed the committees in each state to consider the suggestions of the amicus along with steps proposed by Centre and states for the purpose of formulating the action plan.