The Delhi High Court on November 3 quashed the first information report registered against a foreign national under the Arms Act, stating that the material registered did not show “willful possession” of a single live cartridge seized from her bag during an airport search.
“Only (a) single live cartridge was recovered from (the petitioner’s) luggage without any corresponding weapons. Moreover, no suspicious circumstances have been pointed out in the FIR to suggest that the possession of the cartridge was knowing,” the court stated.
The petition was accepted and decided on the first day of the hearing. Normally courts issue notice and call for counter affidavit at this stage, but Justice Vikas Mahajan said that “the matter was finally considered at the stage of issuance of notice itself without the need to file counter affidavit as the matter is admittedly covered by various decisions of this court”.
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The petitioner, a Filipino citizen working as a senior manager in a medical sciences company based in Hong Kong, is traveling to India on professional assignments. The petition stated that she “lacks any background or experience indicating familiarity with or access to firearms or ammunition.”
According to the FIR, one live ammunition was discovered in her hand luggage in January 2025, while she was leaving IGI Airport for Hong Kong. She had arrived in India to attend a business meeting and training course, and told authorities that she was not aware of the cartridge in her bag.
The petition also stated that she had “no knowledge, control or intent to possess said ammunition.” The mere presence of ammunition in her bag cannot rise to the level of intentional possession, which is an essential element of an offense under Section 25 of the Arms Act.
The court relied on its February 2025 judgment in Mohammad Tariq Rehman v. The State (NCT of Delhi), where it held that the doctrine of conscious possession requires physical custody and awareness or intent.
© Indian Express Private Limited
