IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.7093 of 2008 Sheo Shankar Roy, son of Late Ram Prasad Rai, village and PO Jamuaon, PS Piro, District Bhojpur at Ara – Petitioner. Vs. 1) The State of Bihar, 2) The District Magistrate, Bhojpur at Ara – Respondents. 7 17.10.2011 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the State. The petitioner had come to this court earlier in CWJC No. 13596/2004 in which he had challenged the order cancelling his arms license. This court by order, dated 31.10.2007 remitted the matter back to the District Magistrate, Bhojpur to reconsider the facts. From the impugned order contained in Annexure 1 passed by the District Magistrate, Ara, dated 8.1.2008 it would appear that two grounds have been mentioned for rejecting the petitioner’s application. The first ground is that the petitioner was accused in a criminal case being Piro PS Case No. 167/1985. This criminal case ended in an order of acquittal. The District Magistrate is of the view that since the petitioner was accused in a criminal case, he cannot be allowed to have arms license. The second ground for rejecting the petitioner’s application is that the petitioner is now 78 years old and as such there is no need for him to possess and keep a gun and as such he does not need a license. This court on consideration of the materials and the order of the District Magistrate comes to the conclusion that once a man is acquitted of criminal charges, he cannot be treated to be a criminal and his license cannot be suspended or cancelled on that 2 account. The age of the petitioner cannot be a factor for revoking the suspension / cancellation of the arms license. The license was cancelled at least 15 to 20 years back and as such the fact that the petitioner is now above sixty years of age cannot be taken into account for cancelling the license. If the petitioner had applied for a fresh license at the age of 78 as mentioned in the order sheet, the District Magistrate may have been justified in not issuing the license, unless a ground is made out for issuance of a license. In the circumstances I quash the order contained in Annexure 1 passed in Case No. 24/2007 and direct that the license of the petitioner may be restored within two months from the date of receipt / production of a copy of this order. This writ petition is allowed. haque ( Sheema Ali Khan, J .)