The Karnataka High Court recently deemed pepper spray as a “dangerous weapon” and refused to halt investigations into a criminal case involving a director of C Krishnaiah Chetty & Sons (CKC & Sons), C Ganesh Narayan, and his wife, Vidya Nataraj.
A criminal case was filed against the director and his wife for using pepper spray on a man who allegedly attempted to interfere with the petitioners’ property. The court was hearing a petition to quash the criminal proceddings.
The case originates from an altercation on April 29, 2023. An injunction was obtained to prevent the director from making changes to restrict movement around the walls and partitions of a disputed property. It was alleged that when the employees of the person who obtained that injunction went to seal the gate of the property with a wall, the director and his wife entered into an altercation with them and used pepper spray against them.
The counsel representing the director and his wife argued the pepper spray was used for self-defence and that a knee injury was sustained for which they registered a criminal complaint.
A single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the petition and said “The 2nd petitioner could not have used pepper spray as private defence, as prima facie there was no imminent threat or danger caused to her life. Therefore, the case at hand would require investigation in the least,” Live Law reported.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, referencing IPC section 324, emphasized that causing harm with any potentially lethal instrument constitutes an offense. Pepper spray, the court noted, fits this category, drawing from a 2018 US court case, People vs Sandez.
The bench said pepper spray would indeed be a dangerous weapon under the IPC. Observing that no prior case had laid down the law about pepper spray being a dangerous weapon in India, the bench noted there was a precedent in America where noxious chemical weapons, including pepper spray, would be considered harmful.
Dismissing the petitioners’ claim of self-defence, Justice Nagaprasanna concluded that Vidya couldn’t have legitimately used pepper spray as there was no immediate threat to her life.
The High Court stressed the necessity for investigation, aligning with a Supreme Court directive advising against high courts delving into the merits of such allegations at the initial stage.
The bench then dismissed the petition challenging the criminal case.