Now Reading: Pellet guns cannot be banned as long as advisory permits use: SC
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Pellet guns cannot be banned as long as advisory permits use: SC
The Supreme Court on Thursday said pellet guns cannot be banned as long as the existing advisory permits their use for crowd control in exceptional circumstances by security agencies. The court made…
The Supreme Court on Thursday said pellet guns cannot be banned as long as the existing advisory permits their use for crowd control in exceptional circumstances by security agencies. The court made it clear that allegations of specific misuse can be examined on a case-by-case basis.
The top court took note of a plea on the use of metallic pellet guns during recent student protests against the NEET paper leak in Delhi and asked the Centre to preserve the ammunition log of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) deployed at Jantar Mantar. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana termed the prayer for a complete ban on pellet guns as 'vague', observing that police, as per the BPRD advisory, are empowered to use them in exceptional situations.
The court issued a notice to the Centre and the Inspector General of Police, RAF, on the plea by former Central Information Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad and two victims who suffered pellet injuries during a protest on July 20. The bench asked the Delhi government to provide the best treatment to those injured.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The court's stand effectively puts the onus on petitioners to challenge the BPRD advisory itself, a far harder legal route than seeking a ban on a weapon. The distinction between metallic and non-metallic pellets, which the petitioners have now narrowed their case to, may be the key factual battleground. If the RAF's ammunition log shows only non-metallic pellets were authorised, a case of misuse could be made without overturning the advisory. The next hearing will determine whether the Centre files the log and the full text of the police regulations, which the petitioners say are not in the public domain.
Source: thehansindia.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
