LAHORE:The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday set aside the Interior Ministry's notification suspending licenses of automatic weapon holders.
Justice Shahid Karim heard the petition filed by arms license holders.
The court had reserved the verdict after hearing arguments of parties on Thursday and it was announced today.
Earlier, petitioners' counsel Barrister Syed Ali Zafar questioning the Interior Ministry notification submitted the government suspended licenses of all automatic weapon holders within prohibited bore with the exception that only the law enforcing agencies could keep automatic weapons/licenses.
He said that the government also directed the arms license holders to convert their automatic weapons into non-automatic weapons, and apply for new licenses or deposit their automatic weapons along with Rs 50,000 per automatic rifle and Rs 20,000 per automatic pistol/handgun with the government.
Barrister Syed Ali Zafar submitted that this notification was unlawful because it was issued by Section Officer Arms with the approval of the Ministry of Interior without obtaining any approval from the Cabinet.
He stated that after the 18th Amendment in the Constitution, policies and decisions relating to arms and arms licenses could only be made by the provinces, therefore, the issuing of notification with the approval of Ministry of Interior was ultra vires of the Constitution and the law.APP/AFP