Image Source: TRIBUNE

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has declined to ban the use of pellet guns for crowd control “in rare and extreme situations” in the region.

A Division Bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, dismissing a PIL seeking a ban on pellet guns and pellet-filled cartridges during protests, reiterated that “it is manifest that so long as there is violence by mobs, use of force is inevitable. What kind of force has to be used at the relevant point of time or in a given situation/place, has to be decided by the persons in charge of the place”, the Bench said.

“In view of the ground situation prevailing as of now and the fact that the MHA has already constituted a committee through its memorandum dated July 26, 2016, for exploring alternative to pellet guns..., we are not inclined to prohibit the use of pellet guns in rare and extreme situations,” the HC said while dismissing a PIL by the Kashmir High Court Bar Association in the wake of protests following Hizb commander Burhan Wani’s death and pellet injuries to hundreds during the protests.