#Section 17 Arms Act

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that licensing authorities cannot reject arms license renewals solely because a criminal case is pending. A concrete evaluation of public safety risk under Section 17(3)(b) is mandatory - mere registration of an FIR, without evidence linking the firearm to the alleged offense, is insufficient. This protects lawful license holders from arbitrary administrative action and reinforces procedural fairness in firearm regulation.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that authorities cannot revoke or deny renewal of an arms licence merely due to pending criminal cases. They must record specific, evidence-based findings that the licensee’s continued possession poses a real and imminent threat to public peace or safety, upholding natural justice and proportionality in administrative action.