Baz Muhammad v. the State,
YLR 2010 2269 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved a man whose licensed pistol was stolen from his car in 2000 while his brother was driving it. His brother reported the theft to police, who simply recorded it in a daily diary rather than opening a formal case. Seven years later, in 2007, the petitioner learned that his pistol had actually been recovered from another man, who was arrested for illegally possessing it and convicted, with the court ordering the pistol confiscated by the state. Only then did the petitioner approach the trial court asking for the pistol to be returned to him as its rightful licensed owner. Both the trial court and the sessions court refused his request, and the sessions court went further, cancelling his firearms license entirely.
The Balochistan High Court upheld these decisions. It found the petitioner had been seriously negligent, doing nothing beyond the initial diary entry to pursue his stolen weapon for seven years despite legal rules requiring prompt reporting to authorities. The court noted that licensing authorities have the power to cancel licenses, and the petitioner could not point to any law that would allow the confiscation order to be reversed. It also observed that the lower court had already taken a lenient approach by not imposing an additional penalty available under the law.
This case illustrates that gun owners bear responsibility for promptly and properly reporting lost or stolen firearms to authorities, and that unreasonable delay in doing so can result in permanent loss of both the weapon and one's license, regardless of original lawful ownership.
یہ مقدمہ ایک ایسے شخص سے متعلق تھا جس کا لائسنس یافتہ پستول 2000 میں اس کی گاڑی سے چوری ہو گیا تھا، جبکہ اس وقت گاڑی اس کا بھائی چلا رہا تھا۔ اس کے بھائی نے چوری کی اطلاع پولیس کو دی، مگر پولیس نے باقاعدہ مقدمہ درج کرنے کے بجائے محض روزنامچے میں اندراج کر دیا۔ سات سال بعد، 2007 میں، درخواست گزار کو معلوم ہوا کہ اس کا پستول دراصل ایک اور شخص سے برآمد ہوا تھا، جسے اسے غیر قانونی طور پر رکھنے کے جرم میں گرفتار کر کے سزا دی گئی تھی، اور عدالت نے پستول ریاست کی تحویل میں ضبط کرنے کا حکم دیا تھا۔ اسی وقت درخواست گزار نے ٹرائل کورٹ سے رجوع کیا اور پستول اپنے جائز لائسنس یافتہ مالک کی حیثیت سے واپس دلانے کی درخواست کی۔
ٹرائل کورٹ اور سیشن کورٹ، دونوں نے اس کی درخواست مسترد کر دی، اور سیشن کورٹ نے مزید یہ کیا کہ اس کا اسلحہ لائسنس مکمل طور پر منسوخ کر دیا۔
بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ نے ان فیص