$~52 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(CRL) 3878/2025, CRL.M.A.35047/2025 (stay), CRL.M.A.35048/2025 (for permission to go abroad)

SH VISHNU .....Petitioner Through: Ms. Nisha Gaur, Ms. Annu Poonia, Mr. Karan Gupta, Advocates.

versus STATE NCT OF DELHI AND ANR .....Respondents Through: Ms. Rupali Bandhopadhya ASC with Ms. Amisha Gupta Adv with SI Vipin Kumar PS IGI Airport.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE NEENA BANSAL KRISHNA

O R D E R

% 26.11.2025

1. Matter is taken up today as 25.11.2025 was declared holiday on account of 350th Anniversary of ‘Guru Teg Bahadur’s Martyrdom Day’.

2. The present Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as “C.r.P.C.”) has been filed on behalf of the Petitioner seeking quashing of the FIR No. 701/2025 registered under Section 25 of the Arms Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to the “Act, 1959”) Police Station IGI Airport, Delhi and its consequential proceedings.

3. The petitioner is a qualified Indian citizen and he is working with Brewocrat Brewery Skybar & Kitchen, Gurgaon at the post of Account Manager. The Petitioner is a permanent resident of Delhi and is a sole bread earner for his family consisting of himself, his wife, children and parents. The brother of the applicant and his wife are also dependent upon the Petitioner.

4. On 12.10.2025, at about 05:26 Hrs, the Petitioner was travelling from New Delhi to Sharjah by Flight No. IX-135, Seat No. 18A with departure time being 08:25 Hrs. During the scanning of the baggage at XBIS machine no. 10 in International SHA, T-3 of IGI Airport, 01 live cartridge was recovered from the Petitioner’s bag.

5. Pursuant thereto, this, the present FIR No. 701/2025 dated 12.10.2025 under Section 25 of the Arms Act, 1959 at P.S. IGI Airport, Delhi was registered as he had no valid document in support of the said recovered cartridge at that time.

6. The Petitioner submits that his cousin had given his small bag for carrying the Passport, Visa, Travelling documents, mobile and charger in which, he placed his belongings. Owing to the urgency of travel, the Petitioner failed to notice that 01 live cartridge was lying inside the said bag. Upon screening at the IGI Airport, the cartridge were detected, to the utter surprise of the Petitioner, who asserts that he had no knowledge whatsoever regarding the presence of the said ammunition in his baggage.

7. It is stated that the Petitioner’s cousin, Sh. Ghanshyam, holds a valid Arms License bearing SI. No. of License 949/V/R issued on 15.05.2010 issued by the State of Haryana. The presence of the cartridge in the baggage was purely inadvertent, as the Petitioner could not thoroughly check the bag due to the haste of travel.

8. The Petitioner has been facing unnecessary problems due to pendency of the FIR and has sought quashing of the said FIR no. 701/2025 on the ground that there was no mens rea on his part to commit any offence as alleged. The Petitioner did not attempt to conceal the live cartridge and had voluntarily handed over his baggage for X-ray screening, where such items are easily detectable. It is thus, evident from the record that the presence of the live cartridge was without the Petitioner’s knowledge, and he lacked the requisite intent to commit the alleged offence.

9. It is stated that there is no Status Report as well and no Charge Sheet filed in this case.

Submissions Heard and Record Perused.

10. The pre-condition for an offence under Section 25(1)(a) of the Arms Act, 1959 is the element of intention or knowledge with which a person possessed the Firearm before it can be said to constitute an offence, as held by the Constitution Bench of the Apex Court in Gunwant Lal vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh, (1972) 2 SCC 194.

11. In Sanjay Dutt vs State through CBI, Bombay, (1994) 5 SCC 410, the Constitution Bench of the Apex Court had reiterated as under: -

“The meaning of the first ingredient of “possession” of any