ACID attack in india upsc

 

Acid attack victims deserve better from courts and law enforcement

Cases in india 

According to latest National Crime Records Bureau data, there were 207 incidents of acid attacks across the country in 2023, 

West Bengal ignominiously topping the list with 57 cases, followed by Uttar Pradesh (31).

Why in news ????

Shocked that an acid attack victim had not got closure 16 years after the crime was committed, 

the Supreme Court of India made a slew of oral observations early this week calling the slow pace a “mockery of the system”. 

Not only court but entire system

The Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Surya Kant, said acid attackers must not be shown any sympathy by courts, and called for the “entire system” to respond against them. 

Shaheen Malik case

was 26 and was studying for an MBA degree when she was attacked outside her office in Haryana in 2009. 

13 yrs of pending case

Till 2013, “nothing happened” in her case, she told the CJI. 

The case was finally transferred to Rohini court in Delhi from Haryana, where the trial is pending and “final arguments” are on. 

Ms. Malik has undergone reconstructive surgeries, and in 2021, she set up Brave Souls, an NGO which offers medical and legal support to acid attack survivors. 

What was the case ?

In fact, she was knocking at the Court’s door with a PIL seeking formal recognition of survivors as persons with specified disabilities under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. 

She was bringing the Court’s notice to those acid attack victims who had been forcibly fed acid and were not marked for life like others who had acid thrown at them but nevertheless lived with terrible suffering.

The CJI asked the Centre 

said for  bringing an ordinance. 

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta

appearing for the Centre, said no respondent could oppose the cause of the petitioners.

Perpetrators of acid attacks who leave victims, mostly women and minors, scarred inside and outside for the rest of their lives “must meet with the same ruthlessness as they showed their victims”, he said. 

The CJI ordered the Registrar-General of the High Courts 

to 

• provide the number and details of pending trials in acid attack cases; 
• 
  
• setting up of special courts to exclusively conduct acid attack cases on a day-to-day basis.

• need for updated compensation amounts, recognising that the earlier fixed sum of Rs. 3 lakh...

Principal Health Secretaries in States and UTs have been directed to ensure that private hospitals cannot deny free treatment, including critical and emergency care

In the past, in Laxmi vs Union Of India and Ors

the Court had directed the government to ensure that acid attack victims got 

• proper treatment, 
• 
  
• aftercare 
• 
  
•  rehabilitation,
• 
  
•  banning of sale of acid across the counter. 

Supreme court in past 

The Supreme Court initiated sustained oversight beginning in 2006, following the horrific case of Laxmi, who was attacked at the age of 15. 

In subsequent years, the Court issued landmark directives:

• Minimum Rs. 3 lakh compensation for survivors, with Rs. 1 lakh to be paid within 15 days of the incident.
• 
  
  
  
• Free and immediate medical treatment in private hospitals, including medicines, food, and specialised care.
  
  
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Ban on the over-the-counter sale of acid to curb misuse.

• Designation of District Legal Services Authorities (DLSA)
  
  
  as criminal injuries compensation boards to streamline claims

Demand for Detailed Data from NALSA

NALSA informed the Court that approximately Rs. 484 crore had been disbursed as compensation between March 2024 and April 2025, but agreed to furnish a detailed report on State-wise and victim-wise distribution. 

Maintaining Transparent Records

Names of victims

Date of compensation applications

Date of actual payment

Remarks on delays or pending claims...

अभी क्या प्रॉब्लम फेस कर रहीं हैं विक्टिम्स

Victims in several States, including Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, received only the initial Rs. 1 lakh payout, with no support for expensive reconstructive surgeries.

Private hospitals, in violation of Supreme Court directives, demanded full payment up front before admitting survivors.

Incomplete compliance reports were being furnished, often listing aggregated payments rather than victim-wise details.

As many as eight States and five Union Territories had not yet filed their affidavits explaining compensation delays.... Read more at:

Section 124 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 

deals with acid attacks and the punishment to be meted out, but reality paints a grim picture, with trials being long-drawn and conviction rates low. 

Victims of acid attacks, one of the worst forms of gender violence imaginable, deserve a lot better.

source the hindu