SC: Ordering Centre to withdraw pellet guns unjust till stone pelting stops

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the petitioner, JKHBCA, to talk to the various stakeholders and elicit their opinion in connection with the case of use of pellet guns to disperse stone-pelting mobs in Jammu and Kashmir. Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi, top law officer representing the Central government, told the apex court that it would not talk to separatist leaders.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, issued the directive while hearing a plea filed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA) seeking a ban on the use of pellet guns in the state. The plea was filed after several lives were lost during last year’s unrest in the Kashmir Valley. An estimated 78 people died and more than 100 people were injured, several critically, in the state, last year, due to the use of pellet guns, JKHCBA claimed in its petition. "Discussion can happen only at political level.

Government will not talk to separatist leaders. The Supreme Court shall not pass a direction for dialogue, " the AG told the apex court. The CJI told the Centre,'' As a first step, you facilitate the petitioner to meet with people whom law permits.'' (UNI)