File Photo Of Supreme Court Of IndiaSrinagar- The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to impose a blanket ban on the use of pellet guns, holding that such weapons cannot be prohibited as long as existing guidelines permit their use in exceptional crowd control situations. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, however, made it clear that allegations of misuse of pellet guns could be examined on a case-by-case basis. The bench observed that the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) advisory empowers police to use pellet guns only in exceptional circumstances. She submitted that no standing order of the Delhi Police authorises the use of pellet guns and urged the Centre to place any such regulations on record. The court said it was willing to examine whether the use of pellet guns in the July 20 protest was justified under the “graded response” framework governing crowd control.