JAMMU, Aug 22:
The Special Judge Anti-Corruption (CBI Cases), Kashmir, Adnan Sayeed framed charges against retired JKAS officer and former District Magistrate (DM) Anantnag, Bashir Ahmad Khan and gun dealer Mukesh Kumar in the infamous arms license scam.
According to the CBI investigation, Khan, during his tenure as DM Anantnag between July 2014 and August 2015, issued 2,910 arms licenses illegally, flouting all norms of verification and eligibility. The probe revealed that the licenses were issued to ineligible persons-many of them not even residents of J&K-without police verification, without files being processed and in violation of the Arms Act and Rules.
The court observed that the investigation clearly establishes a criminal conspiracy between the DM, gun dealers and middlemen, who forged documents, tampered with registers and filled in arms license booklets before sending them to the DM’s office for approval. It noted that the racket operated like a “parallel licensing system” where official records were misused for monetary gains.
Rejecting the defense argument that the case merely reflected “procedural lapses,” the court held that the offences amounted to a deliberate abuse of official position for pecuniary benefit, causing a serious threat to public security.
Charges have been framed under Sections 120-B, 420, 471 of the Ranbir Penal Code and Section 5(1)(d) read with 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006
Both accused pleaded not guilty when charges were read out in open court and opted for trial. The case has been listed for prosecution evidence on September 17, 2025.
The multi-crore scam, first unearthed in 2018, had revealed that over 1.21 lakh Arms licenses were fraudulently issued across J&K between 2012 and 2016, many through middlemen and Arms dealers in lieu of hefty bribes.
The facts of the case is that basically this case was registered in pursuance of notification dated 5.10.2018 issued under Section 5 of DSPE Act, 1946 by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions (Department of Personnel & Training), Government of India, with the consent of the State Government of Jammu and Kashmir vide notification No. 228/41/2018 AVD-II for transfer of investigation of FIR No. 18 of 2018 dated 17.05.2018, Police Station Vigilance Organization Kashmir (VOK) to CBI.
It is alleged in the FIR that a report was forwarded by Home Department J&K vide No. Home/AR/151/2017 dated 11.05.2018 for investigation into the alleged irregularities regarding issuance and renewal of Arms licenses by Licensing Authorities across the State. It is alleged that on the basis of secret reports of various agencies of the State and Government of India, it has come to light that during the period between 2012 and 2016, the Deputy Commissioners of various districts of Jammu and Kashmir issued Arms licenses which run in thousands. It is also reflected in the report that authorities of the districts are involved in malpractices in issuance of Arms licenses in lieu of monetary considerations.
It is further alleged that the officers/officials of the various districts in connivance with private person(s) and others fraudulently and illegally issued the Arms licenses which have raised serious security concerns as the State is facing internal security challenges.
(Courtesy Daily Excelsior)