Bhopal, May 5 -- In a first-of-its-kind move in the country, the Indore district administration in Madhya Pradesh has issued a licence for carrying a sharp-edged weapon to a technical education instructor following the latter's eight-year-long legal and administrative battle. Subhash Singh Tomar, 47, a resident of Vijay Nagar in Indore, had applied for the licence for a sharp-edged weapon in January 2017 for self-defence, citing he had to undertake field work in remote areas like Jhabua and Alirajpur. He also highlighted that people from tribal communities were facing criminal cases under the Arms Act for carrying 'Falia' (a sickle-like agricultural equipment used by tribals). "This happened for the first time in India on the order of the Madhya Pradesh high court," additional district magistrate, arms section, Indore, Roshan Rai said. He was referring to the February 27 order by the Indore bench of the high court, directing the district administration to comply with the order of the division commissioner issued in September last year allowing issuance of licence to Tomar for the possession of sharp-edged weapon. The licence was issued on May 2, three days before the hearing of a contempt petition before the high court. The contempt petition was filed after the authorities failed to comply with the high court's directive to issue licence within three weeks. "This unprecedented victory has not only exposed a legislative vacuum under the Arms Act, 1959, but also redefined the discourse on weapon licensing in India. I fought against serious policy void regarding the implementation of the Arms Act. It has been applied indiscriminately even to agricultural tools, due to undefined terms and lack of clear licensing rules," Tomar said. In September 2017, Tomar had filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) with the Union home ministry, followed by a first appeal on October 24 the same year and a complaint on February 9, 2018....