Section 2(1)(h) of the Arms Act, 1959 defines “prohibited ammunition”. It covers any ammunition that contains, or is designed or adapted to contain, a noxious liquid, gas or similar thing; it expressly includes rockets, bombs, grenades, shells, missiles and articles designed for torpedo service and submarine mining; and it includes anything else the Central Government notifies in the Official Gazette. The clause is often called “Section 2(h)” or “clause (h) of Section 2”; in the Act it is clause (h) of sub-section (1) of Section 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The definition matters because of Section 7: no person may acquire, possess, carry, use, make, sell or deal in prohibited ammunition (or prohibited arms, defined in the next clause, Section 2(1)(i)) “unless he has been specially authorised by the Central Government”. No ordinary arms licence under Section 3, 4 or 5 can cover it (Section 14(1)(a)), and possessing it in breach of Section 7 is punishable with seven to fourteen years’ imprisonment and fine (Section 25(1A)).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 2(1)(h) of the Arms Act at a glance<\/p>\n
Reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi \u2013 October 2026. Statutory references are to the Acts as in force on that date. The Arms Act, 1959 is quoted from its English text on India Code (a1959-54.pdf, which prints no “as on” date and shows amendments up to the Arms (Amendment) Act, 2019, in force from 14 December 2019) and its official Hindi text on India Code (H1959-54.pdf), the Arms Rules, 2016 from the Gazette notification G.S.R. 701(E) of 15 July 2016 on India Code, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 from its India Code text (as on 6 October 2025).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Section 2(1) of the Arms Act opens with “In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,\u2015” and clause (h) reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “(h) “prohibited ammunition” means any ammunition containing, or designed or adapted to contain, any noxious liquid, gas or other such thing, and includes rockets, bombs, grenades, shells, missiles, articles designed for torpedo service and submarine mining and such other articles as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify to be prohibited ammunition;”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word “missiles,” was inserted by Act 42 of 1988 with effect from 27 May 1988, as the India Code footnote records; the footnotes show no other change to the clause. The Act itself came into force on 1 October 1962.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The official Hindi text of the Act on India Code, \u0906\u092f\u0941\u0927 \u0905\u0927\u093f\u0928\u093f\u092f\u092e, 1959 (1959 \u0915\u093e \u0905\u0927\u093f\u0928\u093f\u092f\u092e \u0938\u0902\u0916\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0902\u0915 54), gives the clause as (\u091c): “”\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u093f\u0937\u093f\u0926\u094d\u0927 \u0917\u094b\u0932\u093e\u092c\u093e\u0930\u0942\u0926” \u0938\u0947 \u0915\u093f\u0938\u0940 \u092d\u0940 \u0905\u092a\u093e\u092f\u0915\u0930 \u0926\u094d\u0930\u0935, \u0917\u0948\u0938 \u092f\u093e \u0905\u0928\u094d\u092f \u0910\u0938\u0940 \u091a\u0940\u091c \u0915\u094b \u0905\u0928\u094d\u0924\u0930\u094d\u0935\u093f\u0937\u094d\u091f \u0930\u0916\u0928\u0947 \u0935\u093e\u0932\u093e, \u092f\u093e \u0905\u0928\u094d\u0924\u0930\u094d\u0935\u093f\u0937\u094d\u091f \u0930\u0916\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u092a\u0930\u093f\u0915\u0932\u094d\u092a\u093f\u0924 \u092f\u093e \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0915\u0942\u0932\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u092d\u0940 \u0917\u094b\u0932\u093e\u092c\u093e\u0930\u0942\u0926 \u0905\u092d\u093f\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0947\u0924 \u0939\u0948”. It then lists the same articles (rockets, printed “\u0930\u094b\u0915\u091f”, bombs, grenades, shells, missiles, torpedo and submarine-mining articles) and the articles the Central Government may notify. The Hindi word for “noxious” here is “\u0905\u092a\u093e\u092f\u0915\u0930”; “designed or adapted” is “\u092a\u0930\u093f\u0915\u0932\u094d\u092a\u093f\u0924 \u092f\u093e \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0915\u0942\u0932\u093f\u0924”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The definition has three parts, and an item is prohibited ammunition if it falls within any one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prohibited ammunition is a narrower class within “ammunition”, which Section 2(1)(b) defines as “ammunition for any firearm” and which also includes rockets, bombs, grenades, shells and other missiles, articles for torpedo service and submarine mining, articles containing explosive, fulminating or fissionable material or noxious liquid or gas, charges for firearms, fuses and friction tubes, parts of and machinery for manufacturing ammunition, and notified ingredients. In other words, all prohibited ammunition is ammunition, but most ammunition (ordinary cartridges, for example) is not prohibited ammunition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Arms Rules, 2016 confirm the point from the other side. Schedule I of the Rules lists “Prohibited ammunition” only in category I(a); ammunition for the arms in categories I(b) and I(c) is called “Restricted ammunition”, and ammunition for the arms in category III (such as handguns, .22 rimfire rifles and smooth bore shotguns) is “Permissible ammunition”. The categories are explained in a table below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next clause, Section 2(1)(i), defines “prohibited arms”. It reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “(i) “prohibited arms” means\u2015 (i) firearms so designed or adapted that, if pressure is applied to the trigger, missiles continue to be discharged until pressure is removed from the trigger or the magazine containing the missiles is empty, or (ii) weapons of any description designed or adapted for the discharge of any noxious liquid, gas or other such thing, and includes artillery, anti-aircraft and anti-tank firearms and such other arms as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify to be prohibited arms;”<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the Act’s own list of prohibited arms is: fully automatic firearms (those that keep firing while the trigger is pressed); weapons designed or adapted to discharge a noxious liquid or gas; artillery; anti-aircraft firearms; anti-tank firearms; and any arms the Central Government notifies. The Hindi text calls them “\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u093f\u0937\u093f\u0926\u094d\u0927 \u0906\u092f\u0941\u0927” and lists “\u0924\u094b\u092a\u0947\u0902, \u0935\u093e\u092f\u0941\u092f\u093e\u0928 \u092d\u0947\u0926\u0940 \u0914\u0930 \u091f\u0948\u0902\u0915 \u092d\u0947\u0926\u0940 \u0905\u0917\u094d\u0928\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f\u0941\u0927” (artillery, anti-aircraft and anti-tank firearms).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schedule I of the Arms Rules, 2016 adds to the working list. Category I(a), “Prohibited arms”, covers “(i) Prohibited arms as defined in section 2(1)(i) of the Act; (ii) Items configured for military use; (iii) Light weapons; (iv) Small arms including automatic and selective fire other than those defined in category I(b), I(c) and III”. The Rules define “light weapon” as a man-portable weapon designed for use by a crew of two or three, including, among others, heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft guns, recoilless rifles, portable anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile launchers and mortars (rule 2(28)), and “configured for military use” as firearms and ammunition (other than small arms and light weapons) manufactured and configured to specifications set by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence (rule 2(16)).<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe text of Section 2(1)(h) in English and Hindi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What counts as prohibited ammunition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Prohibited arms: Section 2(1)(i) and the list of prohibited arms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n