Court refuses to ban pellet guns in Indian Occupied Kashmir

SRINAGAR: The high court in Indian Occupied Kashmir on Wednesday said that the use of pellet guns cannot be banned in Kashmir, adding that the use of force by the security agencies was “inevitable” while dealing with protesters.

“It is manifest that so long as there is violence by unruly mobs, use of force is inevitable,’’ the court observed.

It also said, “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 persons in charge of the place (of attack).”

The court said given the situation, and the fact that the Indian Home Ministry has already constituted an experts’ committee to explore alternative to pellet guns, it is not inclined to prohibit use of pellet guns in rare and extreme situations before the committee files its report “and a decision (is) taken at the government level”.