PRAYAGRAJ, May 23 -- The Allahabad high court has asked the state government to provide details of the arms licences issued to Raghuraj Pratap Singh, Dhananjay Singh, Sushil Singh, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Vineet Singh and 14 other influential people who hold them despite pending criminal cases. Many of the 19 are known as 'Bahubalis' (strongmen) in Uttar Pradesh politics and include former and serving lawmakers. "It is the prima facie view of this court that the public display of weapons may create an illusion of dominance, strength, and protection, but it often disrupts social harmony and generates fear and insecurity among ordinary people," said Justice Vinod Diwakar in his May 20 order as he heard a petition of jeweller Jai Shankar against the Bhadohi district magistrate's rejection of his arms licence application after an unexplained delay of almost four years. Justice Diwakar further said carrying guns is sometimes justified in the name of self-defence, but weapons that become instruments of intimidation promote fear rather than genuine security. The court named the 19 influential people, saying it deemed it appropriate to seek information about them to bring clarity and remove ambiguity, without commenting on any individual's credentials or political and social activities. Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya is an MLA and heads the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik). Dhananjay Singh is a former lawmaker and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is a six-time former parliamentarian. Sushil Singh is a ruling party MLA. Earlier on March 23, the high court had sought comprehensive data on arms licences issued in Uttar Pradesh. In an affidavit, the state government said there were 10,08,953 arms licences in Uttar Pradesh as on date. As many as 23,407 applications for arms licences under different categories were pending along with 1,738 appeals against their rejection. The affidavit said 20,960 families have more than one arms licence in the state. In 6,062 cases, licences were granted to people with two or more criminal cases. The court asked the government to detail pending criminal cases against such licence holders as well as their family members holding arms licences. It pointed out that the police failed to furnish details of certain influential individuals wielding substantial social and political influence. The court said that relevant particulars concerning such people have been concealed. On March 11, the court granted the state government one week to revisit its policy relating to the grant and review of arms licences, particularly in respect of those with criminal antecedents. The court directed the state government to furnish district-wise, police station-wise, and name-wise details of arms licence holders facing two or more criminal cases....