Passey, J. - (1.) THIS is a petition by Bagga Singh under Article 226 Constitution of India for a writ requiring the District Magistrate, Barnaja to restore to him his gun and the license in respect of it. He had -been continuously in possession of a 12 bore D.B.B.L. gun for the last 16 years under a duly granted license, as is evident from his affidavit The state has not clearly controverter that affidavit. He has, however, been admitted to have been a license -holder since 11 -12 -2004 Bk. Bagga Singh applied for the renewal of his license for the current year and approached the S. H. O. Ahmedgarh Police Station for interim permission to keep the arm. The S. H. O. took over the gun and the license and wrote to the A. S. P. to cancel the license as the Petitioner's son Gajjan Singh .had joined a gang of dacoits and the Petitioner was also suspected to have association with that gang.
(2.) THE District Magistrate was moved and he 'made the following short and perfunctory order: License be cancelled and the licensee be asked to sell his gun within the prescribed period." The Petitioner contends that there was entirely in reason for depriving him of the license and asking him to sell away the gun and that since the District Magistrate made the order of cancellation without recording any grounds, he had apparently acted without jurisdiction. The District Magistrate appears to have acted under Section 18(a), Indian Arms Act in making the order in question. That section no doubt authorized him to cancel the license that had been granted under the Act but he could do so only after he had stated in his order that it was necessary to make it for the security of the public peace and after he had recorded the grounds that formed the basis for that step. The impugned order of the District Magistrate, does not refer to any reasons for making it much less does it show that it was necessary to make it for the security of the public peace.
(3.) IT was contended on behalf of the State that the report of the S.H.O. and the concurring endorsements of the A.S.P. and S.P. must have ..been before the District Magistrate when he made 'the order and that it should, therefore, be presumed that they afforded the District Magistrate grounds for satisfaction that it was necessary to deprive the Petitioner of his license in the interest of public security. . The order was not endorsed on any of these papers put on a prà ((THELAW))cis prepared in his office.;