A sanction under Section 39 of the Arms Act is legally invalid if the District Magistrate grants it without perusing the seized firearm, as the process requires a conscious application of mind based on the physical examination of the weapon.

JUDGMENT

This criminal appeal has been filed by the present appellant under Section 415 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 being aggrieved by the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 14.05.2025 passed by the learned Nineteenth Additional Sessions Judge, Rewa, District Rewa (M.P.) in Sessions Trial No.12 of 2023 whereby the present appellant/accused has been convicted under Section 25(1-B)(a) of the Arms Act and sentenced to undergo two years RI and fine of Rs.500/- with default stipulation.

The case of the prosecution, in brief, is that complainant Aman Mishra lodged an oral report on 15.08.2022 stating that on the said date, after attending the Tiranga Rally, he was returning home along with his friends namely Vibhav Tiwari, Udit Shukla and Vivek Kushwaha. At about 12:00 noon, when they reached near Shivnagar Turn, accused Roshan Gupta and Amanraj were standing on a Bullet motorcycle, while accused Satyam Tiwari and Sachin Mishra were standing on another motorcycle. It is alleged that accused Roshan Gupta abused the complainant and with the intention to kill him, fired a pistol shot, which hit the complainant near the elbow of his left hand. Thereafter, all the accused fled towards Shardathiha while hurling abuses. On the basis of the said information, a Dehati Nalishi (Ex. P-1) was recorded at the spot and on that basis, FIR (Ex. P-10) bearing Crime No.290 of 2022 was registered at Police Station University, District Rewa, for offences punishable under Sections 294, 307 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. It is further alleged that during the course of investigation, statements of witnesses were recorded, a spot map of the place of occurrence was prepared and an empty cartridge was seized from the spot. The blood-stained clothes of the injured and a sealed bullet were seized from the hospital. The accused persons were arrested and their memorandum statements were recorded. A rusted pistol along with a magazine was seized from the possession of accused Roshan Gupta. A Bullet motorcycle was also seized. The seized articles were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar, for examination. The seized pistol was examined by the armorer. After completion of the investigation, prosecution sanction was obtained and the charge-sheet was filed. During the course of trial, the ballistic report (Ex. P-23) was produced. Since the offence was triable exclusively by the Court of Sessions, the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class committed the case to the Sessions Court. Thereafter, pursuant to the order of the learned Sessions Judge, Rewa, the case was transferred and made over to trial Court for trial.

Charges were framed against the appellant/accused under Sections 294 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code and 25/27 of the Arms Act, which were read over and explained to the appellant/accused. The appellant/accused pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

In order to bring home the charges, the prosecution examined as many as 16 witnesses, namely Aman Mishra (PW-1), Arun Mishra (PW-2), Ram Naresh Tiwari (PW-3), Anjani Prasad Tiwari (PW-4), Ramesh Pratap Singh (PW-5), Ram Sushil Tiwari (PW-6), Vivek Kushwaha (PW-7), Vibhav Tiwari (PW-8), Udit Shukla (PW-9), Dr. K.K. Tiwari (PW-10), Shrawan (PW-11), Devkinandan Mishra (PW-12), Vijay Kumar Upadhyay (PW-13), Ved Prakash Patel (PW-14), Rajkishore Rawat (PW-15) and Vidhya Varidhi Tiwari (PW-16) and placed the documents Ex.P-1 to P-23. In defence, the appellant/accused did not choose to examine any witness.

The learned trial Judge after appreciating and marshalling the evidence vide impugned judgment has acquitted the appellant under Section 294 and 307 of the IPC and under Section 27 of the Arms Act, but convicted him for the commission of offence punishable under Section 25(1-B)(a) of the Arms Act and passed the order of sentence as mentioned above. In this manner, the present appeal has been filed by the appellant.

Learned counsel appearing on behalf o