Overview
- Petitioners say Rapid Action Force used pellet ammunition at the July 20 Jantar Mantar student protest and that injured demonstrators received surgery at Lady Hardinge Medical College to remove lodged pellets.
- In a July 30 hearing the court refused an immediate nationwide ban, noting the Bureau of Police Research and Development advisory currently allows pellet use in narrowly defined exceptional circumstances.
- On August 3 the Supreme Court said it will draw a comprehensive protocol on pellet-gun deployment, may appoint a high-powered expert committee, and has asked the Union to file an affidavit for further consideration.
- The court has ordered preservation of the RAF ammunition log and directed Delhi authorities to ensure medical care for the injured while the matter is listed for continued hearings on August 19.
- Pellet arms are typically .12-bore pump-action shotguns that fire 250–400 small metal pellets over a wide area, which raises risks to eyes and vital organs and is central to the court’s scrutiny of law enforcement rules.