Supreme Court Orders Haryana to Return Licensed Revolver to Acquitted Bodyguard in Eight Weeks

The State of Haryana must hand back a bodyguard's licensed revolver within eight weeks. The Supreme Court gave the direction on a writ petition for release of the licensed weapon seized during trial, holding that custody cannot outlive the trial once it has ended in acquittal. The bench of Justices Vikram Nath, R. Mahadevan and Aparesh Kumar Singh fixed eight weeks for the handover to be completed.

That weapon had been taken into custody in the course of the criminal proceedings against the licence holder. The plea before the court said the trial had since ended in acquittal, but the revolver continued to remain with the authorities instead of being restored to the person cleared. The writ petition sought release of that weapon from continued custody after the closure of the trial in favour of the accused.

Custody cannot continue after acquittal

Seized property cannot remain in state custody indefinitely once the trial has concluded in acquittal, the bench held. The end of the trial in acquittal, in the view expressed in the order, removes the basis for retaining the item for purposes of the proceedings. The court said the rights of the individual are to be restored promptly after such an acquittal, and continued detention without a subsisting trial-related justification was not permissible.

A government appeal against the acquittal cannot by itself block the return of property to the acquitted person. The order treats the mere pendency of such a challenge as insufficient ground to withhold the revolver when the trial court has already cleared the holder. On that reasoning, the authorities could not rely on the appeal alone to deny release while the acquittal stood.

Livelihood weighed in the direction. The bench referred to the connection between the revolver and the livelihood of the holder, who works as a bodyguard. The court noted in the order that the item was tied to the earning of a living by the acquitted person, and that factor favoured return within the time fixed. The State must now complete the handover within that period, restoring possession to the acquitted licence holder while the acquittal operates.