Former IPS Officer, Two Others Move Supreme Court Against Use of Pellet Guns on Protesters

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a ban or decommissioning of pellet guns and other projectile-action weapons used by law enforcement agencies to disperse civilian assemblies. The plea was filed by former IPS officer Yashovardhan Azad along with Prashant Kumar and Sheikh Irshad Mansoori, through advocate Vrinda Grover.

The petitioners have challenged the use of wholly or partly metallic kinetic projectiles fired from pump-action rifles or Projectile Action Guns (PAGs), arguing that such weapons are inherently dangerous and unsuitable for controlling peaceful civilian gatherings.

Azad, a former senior police officer, has joined the petition as a co-petitioner to seek judicial intervention on the use of such crowd-control weapons and to challenge their deployment against civilian assemblies. His involvement brings the perspective of a former law-enforcement professional to the plea, alongside the accounts of Kumar and Mansoori, who claim to have suffered pellet injuries.

Kumar, a 25-year-old artist, and Mansoori, 26, alleged that they were injured during the July 20 'Sansad Chalo' march in New Delhi, organised to protest alleged paper leaks. According to the plea, the two were among protesters who were subjected to tear gas, lathi charge and pushing by police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel. They claimed that pellet firing was subsequently carried out while protesters were fleeing, despite there being no provocation or aggression from their side.

The petition argues that the fundamental right to peaceful assembly under Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution can only be restricted through reasonable measures that satisfy the principles of necessity and proportionality under Article 19(3).

The petitioners contend that the unpredictable trajectory of pellets makes them an arbitrary and disproportionate crowd-control measure that cannot meet the requirement of using the least amount of necessary force.

Besides seeking a ban or decommissioning of pellet guns for civilian crowd control, the plea seeks exemplary compensation for victims of pellet injuries allegedly caused by State action on July 20, along with complete medical treatment, care and rehabilitation.