Supreme Court's Key Verdict on Pellet Gun Usage

The Supreme Court has observed that imposing a complete ban on pellet guns used by security forces for controlling crowds during violent protests or situations that go out of control would not be appropriate. However, the court said allegations of misuse of pellet guns can be examined on a case-by-case basis. The observations were made by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohan.

The court also directed the Centre to preserve records related to the ammunition used by the Rapid Action Force (RAF) during the recent ‘Chalo Parliament’ protest at Jantar Mantar involving students. The government informed the court that security forces use pellet guns only under special circumstances as per the guidelines issued by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). The remarks came during the hearing of petitions seeking a ban on metallic pellet guns.