Nov 23, 1998

The well-connected buy confiscated firearms dirt cheap.

By Sheela Raval

PSSST ... Want a .32 bore revolver? Going cheap. Dirt cheap. Or a 12 bore rifle at half the price of an airgun? This is no clandestine deal between gun-runners and criminals. The buyers are highly placed people and the seller is none other than the Maharashtra Government. Surprised? Don't be. The state Government has been happily selling firearms at throwaway prices to its ministers, their relatives and other well-connected people.

A .32 bore revolver costs up to Rs 1.25 lakh in the open market. But Rahul Mahajan, son of BJP strongman Pramod Mahajan, got one ridiculously cheap for Rs 8,816. Kiran Patil Dongaokar, son of independent MLA Ashok Patil Dongaokar was luckier: he got one for Rs 2,500, though Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Datta Nalavade of the Shiv Sena had to shell out Rs 4,500.

The largesse transcends political boundaries. Former minister Javed Khan of the Congress bought a 12 bore Russian-made rifle for Rs 700. Former chief minister Sudhakarrao Naik of the Congress got one for Rs 1,150. The ministers and their kin are not the only ones to have made a killing. Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Gopinath Munde's Private Secretary Annasaheb Misal bought a .32 bore revolver for Rs 9,683.

The Bombay High Court has now pulled down the shutters on this mega discount sale in response to a public-interest petition by Amarsinh Jyotirao Jadhavrao, a Pune-based freedom fighter and editor of Dainik Rashtratej. Jadhavrao, who forked out Rs 1 lakh for a second-hand revolver in February, wants the Government to recover the difference in the sale price from the politicians, their relatives and their minions.

In its defence, the Government says it is merely following rules set by the Central Government. A September 1993 circular gives blanket powers to the home ministers of all states and Union territories to sell confiscated arms. The circular reserves the lion's share of the firearms for ministers, MPs, MLAs, councillors, senior officials and retired personnel. Only 10 per cent are kept for citizens facing a grave threat to their lives.

Jadhavrao's petition questions the constitutional validity of the circular and the uncontrolled power of the state Home Ministry while disposing of confiscated arms. Certainly, with a mere 10 per cent reserved for the common citizen, the circular is loaded in favour of the ruling elite and the well connected. Defending the sale, Munde says, "There is nothing wrong in giving these arms to ministers as there is a special quota for them."

Former police commissioner Julio Ribeiro begs to differ. He says ministers already enjoying police protection don't need firearms -- and certainly not at such throwaway prices. Cultural Affairs Minister Pramod Navalkar -- who bought a .32 bore revolver for Rs 5,000 -- finds nothing amiss in the discounted pricing. "All the firearms are second-hand and some of them are even damaged."

Jadhavrao also claims in his petition that most of the people who have been allotted these firearms use them for purposes other than personal protection. A senior official says that some ministers have even gifted the firearms to friends and associates. The spurt in Mumbai's crime rate perhaps bears testimony to this charge.

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