New Delhi [India], October 29 : The Patiala House Court rejected the revision moved by Delhi Police against the discharge of the accused in an Arms Act case. Delhi police had challenged an order passed by a Metropolitan Magistrate discharging the air traveller who was held with five live cartridges in his bag at IGI Airport in 2019.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Deepti Devesh on Tuesday rejected the revision moved by the Delhi police against the discharge of Amit Chaudhary, a resident of Modi Nagar, Ghaziabad.
While dismissing the revision, the court noted that the Perusal of the Trial Court record clearly shows that the prosecution never challenged the fact that the accused holds a valid arms license. Chaudhary produced the same during the hearing of revision. The license has been issued for an arm with a 0.32 specification.
The court said that the ammunition has been recovered from the accused in this case, which clearly belongs to the same firearm for which the accused holds a valid license.
The accused has explained that he was supposed to travel, and he had inadvertently left the cartridges in his travel bag, the court noted the submission.
The court held, "It is clearly established that possession of ammunition by the accused, itself, was not illegal in light of the fact that he held a valid arms license on the date of recovery."
"Furthermore, his possession at the time of recovery is not a conscious possession, as supported by the facts and circumstances of this case," the court added.
"Thus, in view of the above discussion, it is clear that there is no infirmity/illegality or irregularity in the impugned order of 02.08.2023 of the Trial Court. Accordingly, the present revision petition is dismissed," the court ordered on October 28.
The accused was apprehended after the recovery of five live cartridges of 0.32 mm specification, which were discovered when the bag of the accused was scanned at Indira Gandhi International Airport during security checks.
During the investigation, the accused informed that he has a valid arms license from DM Ghaziabad for a revolver. This fact has been verified in an investigation. Despite the same, the accused was charge-sheeted for an offence punishable under Section 25 of the Arms Act.