The appeal before the top court stated that the notification of October 2019 creates a discrimination based on caste/race and ancestral land tenure and was violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.
The plea pointed out that as per Section 41 of the Arms Act, exemption from getting a firearms license can be granted only in public interest. However, no reasoning has been given in the notification on granting such exemption to the Kodava community.
Besides, the language used in the notification to identify exempted classes/castes of people has been borrowed mechanically and verbatim from the British during the pre-independence era. The same was done by the British to disarm people of India in the aftermath of the First War of Independence of 1857 and to exempt people who were loyal to them, the petition stated.
Source: Barandbench
