1 WP : 1410/2009 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION . 1410 2009 WRIT PETITION NO OF Ramesh Ramashankar Pandey .... Petitioner . Vs The State of Maharashtra .... Respondent . , / . Mr Nitin Pradhan Senior Counsel i by Mr Amarendra Mishra for . petitioner . . . - , . Mr V B Konde Deshmukh Advocate for State : . . . , . Coram Smt R P SondurBaldota J : 18 Date th 2010 November .: PC 1. , By this petition the petitioner challenges suspension of the 1996. Arms license granted to him in the year By virtue of the , 74576/ / . license the petitioner has been holding Revolver WEBLI Scott 23 He was served with notice dated rd 2007 July alleging misuse of the - fire arm and calling upon him to show cause as to why the license 17(3)( ) issued to him be not revoked under Section b of the Arms Act 1959. . . .19 2006 323, 324, The notice referred to C R No of under Sections 504, 506( ) 394 34 II and read with Section Indian penal code registered at the instance of one Ramesh Ramlotan Jaiswal against the . 9 petitioner He replied the notice by his letter dated th 2008 May and 30 was given hearing on th 2008. June The licensing authority after , 18 considering his reply issued order dated th 2008 September . suspending his license The petitioner had thereafter preferred an 18 appeal to the Home Minister under Section of the Arms Act to 2 WP : 1410/2009 . challenge the order The Hon’ble Home Minister dismissed the 31 appeal by his order dated st 2009. March Being aggrieved by the , order of dismissal of his appeal the petitioner has approached this . court to challenge suspension of his Arms license 2. . , Mr Pradhan the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submits that the order of suspension of Arms license passed by the licensing authority and the subsequent order by the appellate authority suffer from nonapplication of mind in as much as they are passed in a mechanical manner without taking into consideration all . . .19 the facts relating to the incident in respect of which the C R No of 2006 . , was registered against the petitioner According to him there is no material on record for subjective satisfaction of the licensing authority that the conduct of petitioner amounted to breach of public . . , safety or public peace Mr Pradhan submits that such subjective satisfaction of the licensing authority is imperative under the . - provision The respondent State has filed two affidavits to oppose . the petition and to support the impugned order 3. , The complainant Ramesh Ramlotan Jaiswal is a reporter and at the relevant time was working as Executive Editor with a Hindi . Weekly by name “Khabar Aptak” He complained to the Police that 21 on st 2006 11.30 ., January at about am he received information that some persons were carrying unathorised construction on the open .10, , . . , ( ). , space at Lane no Jurlic Road I C Colony Borivli West He , , therefore along with another reporter one Balkrishna Bansode went . , to the site on his motor cycle As both walked to the place they were 3 WP : 1410/2009 . confronted by the petitioner and one Sahuji Chauhan In a short , time they were joined by one Bhai Thakur @ Divakar Thakur and . Kundan Thakur All the four persons abused and assaulted the . complainant and his companion The petitioner threatened the . , complainant with his revolver The companion of the complainant , , Balkrishna Bansode however could escape and contact Police from . Kandarpada Police Chouki The Police rescued the complainant and . took him to Bhagwati Hospital for treatment During the , investigation of the complaint against the petitioner the Police , recorded the statements of Balkrishna Bansode Shivmurat Chauhan . and other witnesses 4. The petitioner claims to be in the business of construction and . transport in the vicinity of Mumbai He also claims to be running . several chains of hotels and godowns to store materials In the , course of his business he has constructed the temporary godown of . 10, . . , ( ). tin shed near Lane No I C Colony Borivali West He alleges that , on the date and time of the incident Ramesh Jaiswal along with his two associates Rahis Shaikh and Raju Pandit tried to forcibly enter into godown premises claiming that the godown had been illegally . , . constructed The petitioner’s security guard one Mr Vikrant Kokate , tried to prevent Ramesh Jaiswal from entering into the godown , however Ramesh Jaiswal and his associates started assaulting the . , security guard Therefore the security guard lodged complaint with . . .20 2006, Police being C R No of for the offences punishable under 326 506 34 . . . Sections and read with Indian Penal Code at M H B Colony 4 WP : 1410/2009 , . Police Station against Ramesh Jaiswal Rahis Shaikh and Raju Pandit 5. . Mr Pradhan submits that the solitary ground for suspension of the arms license of the petitioner has been registration of complaint . . .19 2006 . , vide C R No of against the petitioner In that case according , to him it was necessary for the licensing authority as well as the appellate authority to look into the cross complaint filed by the . security guard of the petitioner also The fact that the orders passed by the authorities do not refer to the cross complaint indicates non . . , application of mind on their part According to Mr Pradhan as per , the complaint filed by the security guard the petitioner was not even , . , present at the site at the time of the incident Therefore unless the , two complaints are fully investigated and decided there could be no . , suspension of the Arms license Lastly it is contended that considering the nature of the petitioner’s business and the threats to , his life and property in the past over property disputes at the native . . ( ), place i e Baliya Uttar Pradesh the licensing authority ought not to . have suspended the license 6. The petition does not refer to any direct threat to the . petitioner’s life whether earlier or during the recent times It refers 22 to the assault on his mother by throwing acid upon her on nd June 1996. . The mother was thereafter brought to Mumbai for treatment This assault had allegedly taken place over long standing family ( ). feudes and property disputes at Baliya Uttar Pradesh The application for registration of the Arms license had been made by . the petitioner based upon the incident of assault upon his mother 5 WP : 1410/2009 He however claims to be travelling frequently to his native place to . , maintain his ancestral property Taking overall view of the matter there does not appear to be any serious threat to the life of the , , . petitioner which would make holding by him of a firearm a must , , On this background the complaint of Ramesh Jaiswal which is seem to be supported by the statements of witnesses can be said to be material sufficient for subjective satisfaction of the licensing . authorities for suspension of the license As it is seen from the - - , affidavit in reply filed by the State the trial in respect of the . complaint filed by Ramesh Jaiswal is pending The reply also shows that there is no ground made out by the petitioner of any danger to his life or his family members and that the only remedy for the . petitioner in case of such danger is to carry a firearm 7. . . . As regards the contention based on the complaint being C R No 20 2006 , of filed by the security guard of the petitioner it is apparent from the facts alleged therein that it is a complaint regarding some . - independent incident It cannot be considered as a cross complaint . . .19 2006. to C R No of Therefore even if that was not taken into . consideration the fact by itself cannot vitiate the impugned order 8. , . In the circumstance I find no merit in the petition The petition . is dismissed ( . . . , .) Smt R P SondurBaldota J