New Delhi: A retired Intelligence Bureau Special Director and two protesters injured during the July 20 'Chalo Sansad' march have moved the Supreme Court seeking a nationwide ban on the use of pellet guns for crowd control, describing the weapons as indiscriminate and unconstitutional, according to a report by The News Minute.
The public interest litigation has been filed by former Intelligence Bureau Special Director Yashovardhan Azad, a 1976-batch IPS officer, along with Prashant Kumar Singh and Sheikh Ishaad Mansoori, who sustained pellet injuries during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
The petition seeks directions to decommission or prohibit projectile action guns, including .12-bore pump-action guns loaded with metallic pellets, for dispersing civilian assemblies. It also demands compensation, comprehensive medical treatment, rehabilitation and long-term care for those injured in the July 20 police action.
The plea argues that pellet guns are inherently unsuitable for crowd control because their projectiles scatter unpredictably, ricochet and fragment, creating a high risk of severe injuries to the eyes and other vital organs. It cites past incidents in Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur, contending that so-called "less-lethal" weapons can inflict permanent or fatal injuries when used against crowds.
The petition further claims that the use of .12-bore pellet guns has no basis in the Union government's approved crowd-control framework. It points to the Ministry of Home Affairs' 2011 Standard Operating Procedure, prepared through a task force and circulated by the Bureau of Police Research and Development, which evaluated several non-lethal crowd-control options but did not recommend metallic pellet guns.
The petition also cites the 2020 United Nations Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement and urges the apex court to direct authorities to discontinue pellet guns for crowd dispersal.