While considering a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the state of acid attack survivors, the Supreme Court on Thursday requested information from high courts nationwide about the ongoing trials in acid attack cases.
Chief Justice Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi's bench also requested that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta determine if the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 can be expanded to include victims of acid attacks.
“Issue notice. The learned Solicitor General who was present in the Court has graciously accepted notice. He has also expressed concern about the causes raised in the instant petition. We also direct the Registrar Generals of all High Courts to furnish the details of pending trials in the cases of acid attack victims in their respective jurisdiction,” the court said in its order.
When the victim appeared in court, she stated that nothing happened in her case until 2013, at which point a judge reopened it and moved the trial from Haryana to Delhi, Indian Express reported.
She stated that the trial is still proceeding before a Rohini court and is in the final arguments stage in response to a question from the bench regarding its progress.
Expressing alarm, CJI Surya Kant asked, “Why has the 2009 case trial still not concluded? This trial must be held every day. What’s happening? [If] the national capital can’t respond to these challenges, then who will do it? Shame on the system.”
The victim complained that the financial aid she received was only the bare minimum, and said several others had been forced to consume acid as well. She explained that although many survivors did not show visible scars, they continued to suffer for life because their digestive systems were damaged, leaving them dependent on artificial feeding tubes.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that survivors of acid attacks ought to be legally recognised as persons with disabilities and brought under the protection of the relevant law. He added that if the existing provisions did not clearly allow this, the law could be changed to ensure they were included.
Chief Justice Surya Kant asked the government to examine whether concrete support measures could be introduced for victims and also suggested that such cases should be handled by special courts.
Agreeing, SG Mehta said, “On a day-to-day basis without any adjournment”, and added that offenders in such cases “must be met with the same ruthlessness with which they commit this offence.”
“No court must have any sympathy for this person. System must respond,” said CJI Surya Kant.