Gurgaon District Magistrate Rakesh Gupta cancelled the licence issued to Soha in November 1996 on the ground that she had not attained the mandatory age of 21 years when Soha applied for the licence.

According to the district officials, Soha was only 18 years old when she sought the licence. Under the Arms Act, a person has to be 21 years to get a weapon licence.

The DM, however, took no action against Soha. The original file relating to the licence has gone missing, the officials said.

They maintained that when she got her licence renewed in 2005, Soha did not make any reference to the weapon being allegedly used by Pataudi to hunt a blackbuck in adjoining Jhajjar district.

The District Magistrate, in his order, said that it was the "moral duty" on the part of Soha to have disclosed in whose possession the rifle was.

Soha's counsel V Bhushan Arya told mediapersons that Soha may file an appeal against the District Magistrate's order after getting its copy. Arya claimed that she did not hide her age while applying for the arms licence in 1996 and while getting it renewed in 2005. It was the duty of the police to have verified such issues, he said.