Raj Kumar Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. (S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.6989/2006) January 16, 2009. HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE R.S. CHAUHAN Mr. D.K.Garg, for the petitioner. Mrs. Parinitoo Jain, Addl.GA, for respondents. The petitioner has approached this court with extremely limited prayer that his application for grant of arms licence under Arms Act,1954, which is pending before the District Collector, Dholpur, be decided expeditiously. It is the case of the petitioner that he is a businessman having the business of oil-mill and flour-mill. In order to carry out his business, he needs to travel to various places for sale/ purchase of production and raw material, along with a large amount of money. Considering the fact the petitioner resides in a violative area, in order to protect himself and his property, on 31-8-2005 he applied for the issuance of arms licence before the Collector Dholpur. The Collector thereupon called for the reports from the Tehsildar, Department of Forest, Principal Medical Officer Dholpur, and the Superintendent of Police, Dholpur. While the Tehsildar, Department of Forest and Principal Medical Officer have sent their reports, the Superintendent of Police Dholpur did not send his report. Therefore, the Collector did not pass the necessary orders. However, during pendency of this writ petition, the Superintendent of Police has forwarded his report. Yet, despite receiving the report of Superintendent of Police, the Collector Dholpur has not passed any order on the application of the petitioner for issuance of arms licence. Public Officers are required to act within a reasonable time. The public has a legitimate expectation that the Public Officer would deal with their grievance within a reasonable time. Considering the fact that Superintendent of Police has forwarded his report to the Collector, the Collector is required to pass necessary orders in accordance with law. Therefore, the Collector, Dholpur is directed to decide the application of the petitioner within a period of one month from the date of receipt of the certified copy of this order. The writ petition stands disposed of as indicated above. There shall be no order as to costs. (R.S. Chauhan)J. arn/