Tear gas in India: The law, the science and the human cost

Tear Gas has long been one of the potent crowd-control tools in the country to curb public demonstration. The ‘anti-protest’ tactic, which traces back to pre-world war times, has become a standard part of riot-control policing across the world . The use of tear gas to disperse protesters has once again come under scrutiny following allegations of excessive force during demonstrations over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.

In the past, certain modifications have been undertaken to alleviate the chances of ‘fatal incidents’ due to dispersal of ‘Tear Gas’.

What is a tear gas?

Tear gas, scientifically known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator, is a chemical compound that irritates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In addition, it can cause severe eye and respiratory pain, skin irritation, bleeding, and blindness. The irritation typically appears after 20 to 30 seconds of exposure whose effects last as long as 30 minutes.

Also Read : All is not well: On the protests in Delhi

The two commonly used tear gas variants include: CS Gas and CN Gas. The former is an aerosol of o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile, which activates the pain receptors in the body, causing intense burning and involuntary eye closure.

CN Gas, or Phenacyl chloride, is more toxic than CS Gas since it has potentially more harmful effect on skin.

Majorly, the Indian riot control force use CS-based tear smoke munitions, manufactured by the Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) under the Ministry of Home Affairs in BSF Campus, Gwalior.

Tear gas: a French invention

Tear gas has an interesting double origin — it was actually used by police before it became a weapon of war, then came back to policing afterward with much more lethal formulations. Here’s the sequence:

• 1912 — French police, pre-WWI: For the first time, the French police used the chemical tool to subdue and capture armed criminals.
• 1914-1918 — World War I: In a stealth display of power, French troops then fired tear gas grenades into German trenches to pull soldiers out from their secured perimeters to make easy targets.
• 1921 — Battle of Blair Mountain, West Virginia : The US Army replicated this for the first time at the Battle of Blair Mountain, a huge armed uprising by coal miners in West Virginia demanding union rights, to supress the dissent voices. Following the successful combat, the Army’s chemical unit introduced it for civilian law enforcement in more than 600 U.S. cities by the end of 1923.

What happened in Delhi protests?

On July 20th, 2026, the CJP protesters led a march to the parliament, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak. The overwhelming crowd was met with brute resistance by Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force. Video footage from the protest showed police initially resorting to a lathicharge before deploying tear gas and pellet guns as the confrontation intensified. The violence left several protesters and police personnel injured. While, one protester battles for life at an ICU in Delhi several others sustained fractures, and bruises. Many police officials also suffered injuries during the clash.

Several purported videos making rounds in the internet has flagged expired tear canister gas being used by the Rapid Action Force. CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka in a post on X wrote, “Did @DelhiPolice use expired tear gas shells yesterday?” Though, the Delhi has not expressed clarification on the issue, but the incident has drawn ire from internet users.

When tear gas turns fatal

In June 2010, Tufail Ahmed Mattoo fell victim to a fatal throw of tear gas canister on his head during a protest in Jammu and Kashmir. Later, the incident sparked violent protests, resulting in the death of scores of protesters. Taking into cognisance, a committee was set up to decide the standard operating procedures to be followed for dispersing “unlawful assemblies with minimum force and collateral damage”. The committee’s report on “the standard operating procedures to deal with public agitations with non-lethal means” stated that the effectiveness of tear gas is limited in open areas and is also determined by the wind conditions.

In August 2016, Irfan Ahmad, 18, died after being hit on the left side of his chest by a tear gas shell. The next month an eldelrly man died of cardiac arrest during tear gas shelling in the Kulgam district in Jammu and Kashmir.

A 2017 research study published in BMC journal shared data collected over 25 years looked at tear gas effects on the body. There were two recorded fatalities out of 5,910 people in this study. In the first, the release of tear gas in a person’s home caused death by respiratory failure. The second death involved a tear gas canister impact that caused a fatal head injury.

Tear gas 101 : What should you do if exposed to tear gas?

Health authorities, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), recommend the following steps:

• Move to fresh air immediately
• Do not rub your eyes or face
• Flush your eyes with clean water
• Wash exposed skin thoroughly