Jammu, Oct. 14 -- The Union ministry of home affairs has sought more time from J&K and Ladakh high court (HC) to take a final call on granting sanction for prosecution of senior IAS officers, allegedly involved in the multi-crore arms licence scam in Jammu and Kashmir. In a fresh affidavit filed on October 7 before the HC in a public interest litigation (PIL) titled Sheikh Mohammad Shafi and Another vs Union of India, the MHA stated that it has been awaiting certain clarifications from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the J&K administration before arriving at a final decision. A huge arms licence scam allegedly involving nine deputy magistrates was unearthed by ATS Rajasthan in 2017. It was being probed by the J&K Police before the CBI was handed over the case by the then governor NN Vohra.The CBI had revealed that during the period between 2012 to 2016, approximately 1.53 lakh arms licenses were issued in 10 districts of Jammu division and approximately 1.21 lakh in 12 districts of the then Kashmir division, allegedly for monetary gains by the then district magistrates on forged documents. The affidavit, filed through Central Government Standing Counsel Eishan Dadhichi and settled by senior advocate Vishal Sharma, deputy solicitor General of India, stated that a meeting was convened under the chairmanship of the additional secretary (UT) in the MHA on August 27 this year deliberate upon the CBI's proposal seeking prosecution sanction against IAS officers named in related FIRs. Officials from the J&K government and the CBI attended the meeting. The MHA informed the court that after examining the overall facts and submissions made by both the CBI and the J&K government, it was decided to seek additional clarifications to facilitate a final decision regarding the grant of sanction of prosecution or otherwise against the accused officers. Accordingly, MHA issued letters on September 1 to CBI and J&K administration seeking specific clarifications. In response, J&K government furnished its comment in a letter dated September 26. However, it still awaited a response from the CBI. Once the CBI's inputs are received, the MHA will re-examine the proposal and take an appropriate decision, it submitted. Accordingly, the division bench, comprising chief justice Arun Palli and justice Rajnesh Oswal adjourned the matter to November 20....