The Delhi High Court has quashed an FIR registered against a woman who was found carrying a live cartridge in her bag while travelling to Goa from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.
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Justice Subramonium Prasad said there are several other orders of the High Court in which it had taken similar action on the ground that if the accused is not in a conscious possession of the ammunition, he or she cannot be prosecuted for the offence under the Arms Act.
The woman, an IT professional, contended that the ammunition belonged to her father, who holds a valid .32 bore revolver licence and it was inadvertently carried in her bag.
“In the facts and circumstances of this case, this court is inclined to quash the FIR dated February 5, 2021, registered at the police station at IGI Airport, New Delhi, for an offence under Section 25 of the Arms Act 1959 and the proceedings emanating therefrom,” the High Court said.
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The woman, represented by advocate Amit Sahni, argued that there was only a single live cartridge without there being any firearm, which showed that she was not in a conscious possession of the ammunition and that she could not be prosecuted under the Arms Act.
The incident occurred on February 5, 2021, when the woman was travelling to Goa from Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport. During security check, one live cartridge was found in her luggage and she said that the ammunition belonged to her father who has a subsisting arms licence.