J&K revokes ban on issuance of armed licence

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday revoked the four-year-long ban on issuance of arms licences by the district magistrates in the Union Territory.

The home department has issued fresh guidelines for the district magistrates regarding the issuance of individual arms licences revoking the order passed in July 2018 in which restrictions were imposed.

The order directs the district magistrates to necessarily obtain Aadhaar card as proof of identity while considering an application for grant of such licences and follow other additional conditions besides adhering to the provisions of the Arms Act, 1959 and Arms Rules, 2016.


The ban was imposed after the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case on May 17,2018 following an FIR registered at a police Station of Vigilance Organisation Kashmir (VOK), on the allegations.

During the period from 2012 to 2016, it was alleged that the then district magistrates/deputy commissioners of various districts of J&K were illegally issuing "bulk arms licences in lieu of a monetary consideration".