SC Declines Pellet Gun Ban, Orders SOP Filed
The court held pellet guns remain part of a graded use-of-force framework but sought the Centre's protocol after the Jantar Mantar protest firing
Synopsis
The Supreme Court refused to put a blanket ban on pellet guns and ruled that the existing regulations allow them to be used in "exceptional circumstances", after hearing a petitioner's appeal regarding a metallic pellet fired at students protesting the NEET-UG paper leak at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant directed the Centre to put its SOP on record and keep logs of ammunition.
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The case came up due to the Delhi Police's involvement in the use of metallic pellet guns in the protests at Jantar Mantar, which were linked to the demonstrations against the NEET-UG paper leak. Petitioners stated that the police had fired kinetic metallic projectiles at protesters, which are not as harmful as rubber or plastic projectiles.
Senior advocate Vrinda Grover appearing for the petitioners wanted to limit the purview of the challenge. This will also be determined by nature of the crowd, if it was a violent mob there will be no rubber or plastic pellets. These were metallic and were recovered from the bodies. No sir," she replied to the bench, "these are metallic pellets fired.
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Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymolya Bagchi and V. Mohana put this position and denied the government any blanket ban on such weapons saying that they cannot be banned as long as the existing guidelines permit to use them in "exceptional" cases of crowd control. However, the court has clarified that claims of misuse can be considered case by case.
In formulating the question, Justice Bagchi was "circumspect," noting that pellet guns are already part of the "graded use-of-force" approach to police response at protests. The bench observed that the police have been advised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development to take the aid of the pellet guns in exceptional situations only.
Although Justice Bagchi said petitioners who wanted to see the ban on use of weapons altogether would "have to challenge that very provision" in the legislation, as opposed to the specific incident, he noted. Police pellet gun use will be held under a microscope by the Supreme Court as it looks for a standard operating procedure (SOP) for crowd control.
What the court has decreed
The bench had directed that the "standard operating procedure" be put on record and given notice to the Centre to look into compliance with the graded response framework of the action taken in this case. The court also separately ordered the Centre to keep the log of ammunition of those soldiers who were deployed in Jantar Mantar under the Rapid Action Force.
AdvertisementSolicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the government, told the court it would cooperate fully and that it would preserve all the ammunition records and other materials needed to investigate the crimes.
The wider stakes
The decision does not resolve the underlying constitutional issue, namely, whether pellet guns, based on their history of leading to permanent injuries in previous crowd control exercises, are consistent with the right to life and dignity.
The ruling, commentary suggests, has effectively postponed such a question, and raises the burden on petitioners to test the enabling framework itself, instead of specific incidents of use.
