(1) When a licensing authority decides to suspend or revoke a licence or to refuse to renew it, he shall, while communicating his decision in writing to the licensee, inform him that--
(a) under Section 21 (1) he is required to deposit within such time as may be specified in the order suspending, revoking or refusing to renew the licence, the arms or ammunition covered by the licence, either with the officer-in-charge of the nearest police station forthwith a dealer holding a licence in Form XIV, or, in case he is a member of the armed forces of the Union, in the unit armoury;
(b) subject to the proviso to Section 21 (2), during the period prescribed under sub-rule (4), he or, in the case of his death, his legal representative is entitled to sell or otherwise dispose of the arms or ammunition to any person lawfully entitled to possess the same and to receive the saleproceeds, if any; and
(c) if the arms or ammunition have not been disposed of or their possession by the licensee or his legal representative, as the case may be, has not become lawful within the prescribed period they shall, subject to the proviso to Section 21 (3), be forfeited to Government by order of the District Magistrate.
(2) Where any arms or ammunition is deposited by an owner under Section 21
(1), in a police station or unit armoury or with a dealer holding a licence in Form XIV, the officer-in-charge of the police station or unit armoury or the licensed dealer, as the case may be, shall--
(a) attach to each article deposited, a card showing the following:
Deposit under Section 21 (1)--
(i) Description (No. etc.) of the article ... ... ...
(ii) Particulars of licence of exemption(if any) ... ... ...
(iii) Name and address of depositor ... ... ...
(iv) (iv) Sl. No. in register and date of deposit ... ... ...
(v) (v) Date due for forfeiture/disposal ... ... ...
(vi) (vi) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
(vii) (vii) (vi) Signature of depositor 20
(viii) (viii) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Signature of dealer/ or officer-in-charge police station/unit armoury.
(b) issue to the depositor a receipt containing the same details as in (a) and
(c) immediately send a copy of receipt of the authority who granted the licence or renewed it last.
(3) (a) (i). Any arms or ammunition deposited in a unit armoury under Section 21
(1) may, unless returned or disposed of earlier, be transferred, after the expiry of a period of 30 days after such deposit to the nearest police station;
(ii) Any arms or ammunition deposited in a police station under Section 21
(1) which have not been returned or disposed of within thirty days of the deposit and the arms or ammunition transferred under Clause (i) may be transferred for the sake of better maintenance or safety to a police armoury in the district/taluka headquarters or such other place as may be specified by the District Magistrate, in accordance with such instructions as may be issued by the State Government for the purpose :
Provided that the District Magistrate may, when he considers it desirable, extend the said period of thirty days.
(b) Intimation of such transfer shall be given to the depositor of the article and to the licensing authority who granted or last renewed the licence for the article.
(4) The period within which a depositor or his legal representative may exercise his rights under sub-section (2) of Section 21 shall be--
(a) six months from the date of deposit, if the arms or ammunition are deposited as a consequence of contravention by its owner of any provision of the Act or these rules or any condition of the licence;
(b) one year--
(i) from the date of deposit, if the arms or ammunition are deposited as a consequence of its possession becoming unlawful under Section 21 (1) otherwise than as under Clause (a), or
(ii) if it is already in deposit, from the date of communication to the owner of the order revoking, suspending or refusing to renew the licence, or
(iii) from the dale of notification issued under Section 4 :
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Provided that any period under Clause (a) or (b) shall be reckoned--
(i) where an appeal is preferred by the owner under Section 18 from the date of the final order of the appellate authority;
(ii) where the arms or ammunition is the subject of a legal suit or dispute or is owned or inherited by a person who has not completed the age of sixteen years--from the date of termination of the dispute or of completion by that person of the age of sixteen years; and
(iii) where the owner of the arms or ammunition is on active service outside India--from the date of his return to India:
Provided further thatwhen the arms or ammunition is owned by a person who is considered by the licensing authority to be unfit, for the time being, to carry the arms or ammunition for any reason, or in any suitable case, the District Magistrate or the Commissioner of police, in relation to any metropolitan area, may extend the period prescribed under clause 9(a) or clause (b) for a period upto six months, and
(i) (i) the State Government may be special or general order extend the period beyond six months:
Provided further that when the arm or ammunition is owned by a person who is consider by the licensing authority to be unfit, for the time being, to carry the arm or ammunition for any reason, the period prescribed under clause (a) may be extended suitably by the District Magistrate, or the Commissioner of Police in relation to any metropolitan area.
(c) Two years if the fire-arms are deposited as a consequence of proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 3.
(5) (a) Any arms or ammunition not returned or disposed of before the expiry of the period prescribed under sub-rule (4) shall be notified to the District Magistrate; and subject to the provisions to sub-rule (4) and the proviso to Section 21 (3), transferred to the district malkhana or such other place as required by order of the District Magistrate for the purpose of forfeiture under Section 21 (3).
(b) The District Magistrate shall, before making an order of forfeiture after the expiry of the prescribed period, serve a notice as required under Section 21 (4) in like manner as for summons under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898)4 :
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Provided that, in the case of the depositor being a member of the armed forces of the Union, the notice shall be served personally through the Commanding Officer of such member.
(6) Charges for maintaining in good condition articles deposited may be levied at such rates as may be fixed from time to time by the State Government.