The Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to provide details of arms licenses issued to politicians Raghuraj Pratap Singh, Dhananjay Singh, Brij Bhushan Singh, Sushil Singh and 15 other influential people who are holding them despite pending criminal cases. Many of the 19 are known as bahubalis or strongmen in Uttar Pradesh politics, and they include former and current legislators.
“It is the view of this court that, prima facie, public display of arms may create an illusion of dominance, power and protection, but it often disrupts social harmony and generates fear and insecurity among common people,” Justice Vinod Diwakar, while hearing a plea filed by jeweler Jai Shankar against Bhadohi district judge’s rejection of the arms license application after an unjustified delay of about four years, said: “It is the view of this court that, prima facie, public display of arms may create an illusion of dominance, power and protection, but it often disrupts social harmony and generates fear and insecurity among common people.”
He said that carrying weapons is sometimes justified in the name of self-defense, but weapons that become tools of intimidation promote fear rather than real security. “A society in which armed individuals assert dominance through force and visible threats does not become freer or more peaceful.”
The court said that this undermines public confidence, weakens the feeling of security, and disturbs civil peace. “True self-defense is intended to preserve life and maintain order, not to transform public spaces into environments of domination and fear. For this reason, a culture that glorifies weapons and intimidation cannot be considered conducive to a peaceful, rule-abiding society.”
The court named the 19 people, saying it deemed it appropriate to obtain information about them to clarify the matter and remove ambiguity, without commenting on any individual’s credentials or political and social activities.
Raghuraj Pratap Singh, also known as Raja Bhaiya, is a legislator and heads the Jansata Dal (Loktantrik). Dhananjay Singh is a former MP and Brij Bhushan Charan Singh is a former six-time MP. Sushil Singh is the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s MP.
The state government said in an affidavit that there were more than one million gun licenses in the state as of that date. As many as 23,407 applications for arms licenses under various categories are still under consideration, along with 1,738 appeals against their rejection.
The affidavit said 20,960 families have more than one gun license in the state. In 6,062 cases, licenses were granted to people in two or more criminal cases. The court asked the government to provide details of the criminal cases pending against these license holders as well as their family members who hold weapons licences. He pointed out that the police failed to provide details about some influential individuals who enjoy great social and political influence. The court said that relevant details about these people were concealed.
On March 11, the court gave the state government one week to reconsider and review its policy on granting weapons licences, particularly in relation to those with criminal antecedents. The court directed the state government to provide district-level details, police stations and names of arms license holders facing two or more criminal cases.
