The Jharkhand High Court on Monday directed the State Government to constitute firearms bureau and also prepare a plan for the destruction of seized weapons within four weeks.
The bench of Justice KP Deo issued the order during hearing in a case (Md Isteyaque v/s State of Jharkhand).
The case is related to a person who was caught with a weapon in Ranchi district in 1986. Police used firearms allegedly found in his possession to implicate him. The petitioner had appealed to the High Court after he was convicted by the lower court in this regard.
Advocate General Ajit Kumar informed that the court asked the State government to form the bureau within four months. He added that next hearing in the case would be on December 3.
He added that Home Secretary SKG Rahate and the DGP DK Pandey have been instructed to inform the court about measures taken by the state government in this regard during the next hearing.
The Home Secretary and the DGP could not be present in the hearing on Monday. They had applied before the court mentioning they were engaged in video conferencing with Election Commission of India. The court accepted their request.
It may be stated here that fire arms seized by police during anti-crime operations are stored as an exhibit by the police.