LAHORE: The Punjab government, in a bid to curb menace of use of automatic and other weapons in crimes, has proposed amendments to the age-old “The Punjab Arms Ordinance 1965”, suggesting stringent punishments for such offences, to improve law and order in the province.

The Punjab Arms Ordinance 1965 had almost lost its utility as the criminals, using modern lethal weapons in incidents of phone snatching and dacoity etc, were avoiding long punishments, as the offence of carrying non-prohibited bore weapons was bailable and carried meager fines – in some cases just Rs500.

As incidence of using illegal weapons had become rife, creating law and order issue across the province, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had directed the home department to revise the age-old law and come up with a stringent version of it.

The home department deliberated on the law and finalised a draft bill “Arms Ordinance 1965 (Amendment) Act 2024”, which will be tabled in the Punjab Assembly after a nod from relevant bodies.

The draft law proposes amendments to the Section 13 of the ordinance, suggesting enhanced punishments for carrying illegal, non-prohibited and prohibited bore weapons and fines from Rs1 million to Rs3 million.

Explaining the revised punishments for carrying illegal weapons, Home Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal told Dawn that an accused found guilty of carrying any non-prohibited bore weapon and related ammunition, can now be handed down at least five-year imprisonment, instead of two years, which may extend to seven years. The negligible fine amount has also been revised, proposing a fine of Rs1 million, and in case of non-payment of fine, a convict will be required to spend six more months in jail.

He says that under the amended draft, an accused found guilty of carrying a prohibited bore weapon or related ammunition, can be imprisoned for seven years, instead of four years, and be liable to pay a fine of Rs2m. In case of non-payment of the fine, the convict will be required to serve an additional term of one year.

In a more serious case, he says, the draft law proposes 10-year imprisonment for an accused found guilty of carrying both non-prohibited and prohibited bore weapons, instead of five years and will be liable to pay a fine of Rs3m. In case of non-payment of the fine, the convict will be required to serve imprisonment for two more years.

The draft law proposes that all offences of carrying illegal weapons should be non-bailable, says Mr Mengal.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2024