MADURAI: Observing that there is no fundamental right in India to possess guns, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed a petition filed by a businessman from Tirunelveli in 2015, against the rejection of his application seeking a gun license.
Ahamed Mohideen, in his petition, sought a gun license by claiming that he would be carrying large amounts of cash for business purposes and would need a gun license for self-protection.
Justice GR Swaminathan, observed, “Unlike the USA, in India, there is no fundamental right to bear arms. The gun license cannot be issued for the asking.” Only if the authorities find that the petitioner is facing a grave threat to his life, they would consider issuing a gun license, the judge said.
He pointed out that the petitioner is not facing any serious threat to his life and the only reason cited by him for requiring a gun license is that he is handling a substantial amount of cash. He added that the present policy of the government is to discourage transactions in cash and refuse to interfere with the rejection order.