State governments decision calling for owners of firearms to deposit their articles with the police station during elections has received a blow after the Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered the police to return the arms to the petitioners. Division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice Rajesh Ketkar on Tuesday ordered for returning the arms as the government did not have a screening committee (prior to calling for the arms) to assess the antecedents of the owners which was made mandatory in a 2000 HC order. The court was hearing four petitions where some individuals have already deposited their arms and others who are refusing to do so. The petitioners are challenging the Additional Collectors order of March 9 (based on ECs direction) to police stations to secure the arms of individuals in their jurisdiction during election time. Two of the petitionersVikas Shukla,an advocate and Merwan Irani,a sportsperson had already deposited their arms which will now be returned. The court had on Monday asked the state to clarify if they have a screening committee. The state on Tuesday informed the court that the screening committee was formed only on Monday. Taking the peculiar circumstances of the case,the court ordered that the arms should be returned and the state can call for fresh action according to law. Petitioners advocates Satyajit Joshi and A B Rai had argued that there has been no screening of the individuals who have been asked to deposit their firearms. According to Joshi,a screening committee should first categorise the owners to see if they have a clean record or are habitual offenders. Counsel S R Chitnis who appeared for other petitioners said that they would not deposit the arms in view of an earlier division bench order passed in 2000,which had held that there should be a screening committee to access the antecedents of the arms owner. Chitnis argued that the additional collectors order was in contravention to the division bench order. As for the petitioners who are yet to deposit their arms,the court has said that the Election Commission should file an affidavit by Thursday stating whether it is necessary for depositing arms before the screening committee. Justice Desai had cautioned the state government that the court should not find things to be out of proper procedure. You cannot take arms like this. If we find anything we will come down heavily, Justice Desai said.
