‘Dangerous and illegal’, SC disapproves celebratory firing

The Supreme Court has frowned upon the practice of celebratory firing, ruling that those who partake in ballistic revelry must be sent straight to the proverbial naughty corner

In a world where balloons and confetti exist, choosing bullets to express joy is excessive and dangerous, besides being illegal. The Supreme Court has frowned upon the practice of celebratory firing, ruling that those who partake in ballistic revelry must be sent straight to the proverbial naughty corner.

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“The act of celebratory firing during marriage ceremonies is an unfortunate yet prevalent practice in our nation,” rued a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma, adding that people who shoot must bear the repercussions of knowing that their actions are likely to result in fatalities.

Though without any intention, causing fatal injuries to a person due to celebratory firing, the court said, would attract the punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which is punishable with a jail term that can extend to 10 years. According to the top court, the knowledge that bullets cannot be a cause for celebration when they travel at speeds fast enough to kill a person is sufficient to invoke the charge of culpable homicide rather than causing death by negligence.

In the present case, the top court was hearing an appeal by a man whose bullet killed a person during the celebratory firing at a wedding in March 2016. The man was sentenced to life for killing the victim even though he argued that his gun accidently discharged.

In its judgment on Monday, the bench agreed with the submissions that the victim died on account of a single bullet injury and that there was no known prior enmity between him and the accused.

“The fulcrum of the dispute before this Court is whether the Appellant’s act of engaging in celebratory firing during a marriage ceremony could be construed to be an act so imminently dangerous so as to, in all probability, cause death or such bodily injury as was likely to cause death?” wondered the bench.

It added that in India, celebratory gunfire at marriage rituals is a regrettable but common practice.

“The present case is a direct example of the disastrous consequences of such uncontrolled and unwarranted celebratory firing...There can be no qualm about the fact that the appellant opened fire in a crowded place i.e., a marriage ceremony without taking reasonable measures for safety, which led to the unfortunate demise of the deceased,” stated the bench in its judgment.

It referred to the Supreme Court judgment in Kunwar Pal Singh Vs State of Uttarakhand (2014), highlighting the danger of putting lives in peril for the sake of a few seconds of noise.

“Everybody, who carries a gun with live cartridges and even others know that firing a gun and that too in the presence of several people is an act, is likely to cause death, as indeed it did. Guns must be carried with a sense of responsibility and caution and are not meant to be used in such places as marriage ceremonies,” this judgment had said.

Similarly, In Bhagwan Singh Vs State of Uttarakhand (2020), the top court held that a man causing fatalities because of his firing a shot in the air must be held criminally liable for a conduct that could have resulted in fatal injury to others in proximity.

Banking on these judgments, the top court held the accused guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, sentencing him to imprisonment for eight years – a period already undergone by him.