New Delhi: Days after the July 20 protest march in which authorities used lath charge and tear gas to stop protesters from moving towards the Parliament, a former bureaucrat and two victims have approached the Supreme Court to demand a ban on the use of pellet guns on the crowd.
According to a report published in The Hindu, retired Intelligence Bureau (IB) Special Director Yashovardhan Azad, two others have urged the apex court to ban the use of metallic kinetic projectiles/pellets fired from pump-action rifles or projectile-action guns (PAG) wholly or partially on the crowd.
In their plea, the trio have also urged the Supreme Court to grant exemplary compensation to all victims of pellet injuries caused by the authorities on July 20. They also urged the top court to ensure proper medical treatment and rehabilitation for the victims.
“The present Public Interest Litigation is filed seeking urgent relief(s) from this Hon’ble Court to safeguard the constitutional and fundamental rights of India’s youth protesters and civilian assemblies,” the petition said.
The plea further said that on the said date, the two injured petitioners witnessed the crowd being pushed in the inner circle of Connaught Place. It noted that protesters had started fleeing, with several of them raising their arms in “surrender” mode. They added that RAF personnel started firing pump-action gun(s) despite no provocations. The three in their petitions noted that the personnel released a wide spray of splinter-like pellets on petitioners Nos. 2 and 3 , which caused them pain as well as bleeding, The Hindu added further.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the “barbaric assault” on peacefully protesting students. “I write to demand accountability for the barbaric assault on students who were peacefully protesting in Delhi on July 20, 2026. Our students were demanding a fair and accountable education system. Instead of being heard, security forces assaulted them with indiscriminate force, including lethal weapons and tear gas,” Gandhi wrote in his letter dated July 25.
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