[CLSTR]
< Back to situation

[REVISION HISTORY]

Delhi RAF pellet‑gun controversy: Supreme Court upholds use

Updated 2 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-07-30 13:38 UTC → 2026-07-30 23:34 UTC · added removed

Delhi RAF pellet‑gun controversy: Supreme Court steps in upholds use

The July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar over alleged NEET‑UG paper leaks turned violent when the Delhi Rapid Action Force (RAF) used pellet‑guns on demonstrators. Initial reports documented injuries, while authorities first denied the use of such weapons. Subsequent evidence, including a General Diary entry, showed senior police officials had authorised pellet rounds, tear‑gas and other munitions, prompting political demands for accountability. In late July, the Supreme Court intervened. A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant ordered the Delhi government to provide medical treatment to injured protesters and directed the Centre to preserve the RAF ammunition log. The Court rejected a blanket ban petition on metallic pellet guns as overly vague, urging petitioners to seek a clear protocol for their deployment instead of rather than an outright prohibition. It also instructed the Delhi police to place its standing order on the graded use‑of‑force framework on record. Separate documents revealed facial‑recognition vans identified 2,873 participants with criminal records, and the administration later closed the NEET‑related protest cases, excluding relief for those individuals. On 30 July, the Court delivered a definitive ruling that pellet guns may continue to be used by security agencies in extraordinary situations, as permitted by the Bureau of Police Research and Development advisory. The bench reiterated its earlier order for medical care for victims Prashant Kumar Singh and Sheikh Irshad Mansoori, issued notices to the Centre and the RAF Inspector General, and preserved the ammunition log. While the court dismissed the blanket‑ban request as vague, petitioners retain the option to challenge the provision on constitutional grounds. The episode has thus progressed from contested use of force to judicial scrutiny of both medical redress and regulatory redress, procedural guidelines and the legal basis for crowd‑control weapons.

Versions

  1. 2026-07-30 23:34 UTC Delhi RAF pellet‑gun controversy: Supreme Court upholds use
  2. 2026-07-30 13:38 UTC Delhi RAF pellet‑gun controversy: Supreme Court steps in
  3. 2026-07-30 06:15 UTC Delhi Rapid Action Force pellet‑gun controversy

Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.