Jharkhand High Court on Thursday ordered home secretary S.K.G. Rahate and director-general of police (DGP) D.K. Pandey to furnish a blueprint of the state government’s proposal for disposal of seized firearms in criminal cases.

The court of Justice K.P. Deo had earlier summoned the officers along with other senior police brass to understand the firearms disposal mechanism in the state.

All firearms seized in criminal cases are presented as trial exhibits and need to be disposed of properly after the resolution of the case.

The bench, while hearing the appeal of one Ishtiyaque Ahmed who had been arrested under the Arms Act for illegal possession of firearms, had pointed out the glaring gaps in the case exposing police lapses during investigation.

While showing the lower court records in Ahmed’s case, Justice Deo pointed out that the weapon allegedly seized from him was never sealed by the investigating

officer.

However, the sergeant major who had examined the weapon, had recorded that he received the weapon in a sealed condition.

Justice Deo said such major contradictions led to the acquittal of Ahmed.

He, however, emphasised that the bigger question was the proper disposal of the firearms.

According to the law, a state should have an arms

bureau, which would maintain the details of weapons seized and surrendered in the state.

“Periodic disposal of arms and the maintenance of records are mandatory,” Justice Deo said, adding that merely punishing an errant officer was not the solution to the problem.

“A strategy needs to be worked out to solve the problem once and for all.”

The judge asked police officers to work out a blueprint and inform the court about the proposal on November 5.