Arms licences: Interior Ministry to respond on Oct 5
Petition challenges govt notice to licence holders over NADRA registration.
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court on Friday sought a reply from the Interior Ministry on a petition against a government notice for weapons licence holders to apply afresh so they can be registered electronically with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
Tasawur Hussain Shah and other owners of firearms, through their counsel Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, filed the petition, submitting that the sale and purchase of arms and ammunition and the issuance of licences was regulated by the Pakistan Arms Ordinance of 1965 and the Arms Rules of 1924.
Zafar said these rules could only be amended through a gazette notification. The government had merely published notices in the newspapers stating that all licence holders who had been issued licences prior to January 1, 2011, should surrender their documents to NADRA and file fresh applications for new licences.
He argued that the government directions were without legal authority. He said his clients were not opposed to licence holders registering for computer records, but the entire process should be contained in rules which provide for all aspects of the possession, transport, sale and transfer of firearms. He said the ministry’s plan was impractical.
After hearing the preliminary arguments, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah directed the ministry to submit a reply by October 5 and asked the deputy attorney general to present the relevant government notification in court, if any.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2011.
The Lahore High Court on Friday sought a reply from the Interior Ministry on a petition against a government notice for weapons licence holders to apply afresh so they can be registered electronically with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
Tasawur Hussain Shah and other owners of firearms, through their counsel Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, filed the petition, submitting that the sale and purchase of arms and ammunition and the issuance of licences was regulated by the Pakistan Arms Ordinance of 1965 and the Arms Rules of 1924.
Zafar said these rules could only be amended through a gazette notification. The government had merely published notices in the newspapers stating that all licence holders who had been issued licences prior to January 1, 2011, should surrender their documents to NADRA and file fresh applications for new licences.
He argued that the government directions were without legal authority. He said his clients were not opposed to licence holders registering for computer records, but the entire process should be contained in rules which provide for all aspects of the possession, transport, sale and transfer of firearms. He said the ministry’s plan was impractical.
After hearing the preliminary arguments, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah directed the ministry to submit a reply by October 5 and asked the deputy attorney general to present the relevant government notification in court, if any.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2011.