AJK Arms Licences: Register in 10 Days or Lose ThemAzad Kashmir

Under the notification, the station house officer of the nearest police station, or an officer deputed by them, will record the particulars of every licence presented for registration and issue a registration slip to the licence holder. Police stations must also send a consolidated daily list of the licences registered that day to the deputy commissioner or district magistrate and the superintendent of police concerned.

The warning in the notification is blunt. Any weapon licence not registered within 10 days of the notification’s publication will be treated as cancelled, irrespective of where it was issued. Anyone found possessing a weapon or ammunition without a duly registered licence will face legal proceedings, including arrest and confiscation of the weapon.

Deputy commissioners and superintendents of police have been directed to give the order wide publicity through newspapers, mosques and local announcements, so that licence holders across the territory hear about it in time. The notification came into force with immediate effect.

For licence holders, the practical effect is straightforward: a licence issued in one district must now also sit on the record of the police station nearest to where the holder lives. The registration slip issued by the station house officer will serve as proof that the licence has been entered in the local record.

The notification does not change the conditions on which a licence was originally granted; it adds a registration step at the holder’s nearest police station. Holders should keep the registration slip with the licence, as it is the record that the licence has been entered in the local police record.

The directive applies to all weapon licences held by residents of Azad Kashmir, regardless of the place of issuance. Holders who miss the 10-day window risk losing the licence altogether, and carrying a weapon on an unregistered licence could lead to arrest and the weapon being taken away.