Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa on Wednesday remarked there was a need to eradicate “Kalashnikov culture” from the country.

He made the remarks as a three-member bench — led by CJP Isa and also comprising justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Musarrat Hilali — took up the post-arrest bail plea of a suspect named in a case concerning the theft of weapons from a house.

The suspect, identified as Kashif, was booked under sections 395 (punishment for dacoity) and 412 (dishonestly receiving stolen property in the commission of a dacoity) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

During the hearing, lawyers Shabbir Hussain Gigyani and Muhammad Tariq Khan appeared before the court.

CJP Isa issued notices to Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan and the interior ministry’s secretary as well as the home secretaries, police chiefs, and advocate generals of all provinces, seeking details of the number of licences issued countrywide for prohibited weapons.

The court then accepted Kashif’s plea, granting him post-arrest bail against surety bonds worth Rs50,000.

In August last year, the government had placed a ban on the issuance of arms licences. However, in November, the public in Punjab was allowed to apply for and get arms licences.

The hearing

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Isa noted that the person from whose house the weapons were stolen from was not even asked to show the licences.

“The owner is admitting to the crime himself. Two Kalashnikovs, two Kalakovs and a pistol, among other valuables, were stolen,” the CJP remarked.

The top judge said he had also been “offered” to buy a licence for Kalashnikovs, adding that the weapon and drugs had “destroyed” Pakistan.

“No one across the world roams around in this manner in huge cars with tinted glasses and carrying Kalashnikovs,” CJP Isa remarked.

Justice Isa observed that he would write to the interior ministry’s secretary to “return all Kalashnikovs and their licences”.

“If we go to schools or markets, we see people standing carrying Kalashnikovs. If they are scared, then they should remain in their houses. They come out [of their houses] to scare people and show off their influence,” the top judge noted.

He went on to remark that in Islamabad, “guards stood outside houses armed with Kalashnikovs” and the local police “did not dare” to question such people with tinted car glasses.

“How will it be known whether those with Kalashnikovs are terrorists or someone else?” CJP Isa wondered.

He expressed displeasure over the police not inquiring the owner of the weapons about the licences for the arms.

“It is a crime to own weapons without a licence and the police did not even ask the owner [about it] during the inquiry,” he remarked.

The court then accepted the suspect’s plea, granting him post-arrest bail against surety bonds worth Rs50,000.