Bombay HC quashes proceedings against woman found with live cartridge at airport

A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice M N Jadhav observed that “possession of live cartridge in petitioner’s hand bag could not mean that she was in conscious possession and further in the absence of recovery of any firearm or weapon, benefit of doubt needs to be given to her.”

The petitioner, who is an Ayurvedic doctor, along with her husband and children had planned a trip to Kochi and during the security check at the airport on December 3, 2016, a live cartridge was detected and recovered from her hand baggage.

An FIR was registered against her under the Arms Act and she was subsequently arrested and later released on bail. Thereafter, she approached HC in 2019, seeking to quash criminal proceedings pending before magistrate court in Andheri.

Advocate NU Khan representing the woman told the court that she lived in the vicinity of a police training centre and firing range in Sangli and that her minor daughter could have picked up the cartridge and placed it in her baggage.

The bench observed, “The explanation given by the Petitioner is not doubted by the prosecution and hence, the possibility of the cartridge being picked up by her minor daughter and put in her hand bag cannot be ruled out.”

The Court further noted that the term “possession” used in sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act refers to “conscious possession” and not to “unconscious or inadvertent possession” or the one which is not to the knowledge of the person.

It went on to observe: “It is seen that neither the Petitioner nor her husband possess an arms licence; at the time of recovery of the live cartridge from the hand bag of the Petitioner, no weapon or firearm was found or recovered. From the reading of the chargesheet it is that the investigation has been completed from all possible angles…”