These all writ petitions have been filed against the ac tion of the Officer Incharge of the con cerned Police Stations compelling the petitioners and others persons naving fiire-arms licence to deposit their firearms, at the police station of their respective areas. Although in these cases no written direc tion has been issued by any officer or authority but in spite of that the citizens having valid licence are being compelled to deposit their fire-arms.

2. This Court has noticed that a num ber of writ petitions have been filed by

individuals in the post and are being filed in respect of the directions oral or written in general to the licence holders to deposit the fire-arms by different officers of the State Government like District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate and the Officer Incharge of the concerned police stations. One of the orders of the District Magistrate, Barabanki has been produced which is dated 26th August, 1999, by which the District Magistrate in view of the Lpk Sabha Elections suspended all the fire-arms licences in the district of Barabanki with a direction to deposit the fire-arms at the police stations or the arm dealers.

3. In the pa