New Delhi: Expressing serious concern over the increasing number of acid attack cases in the country, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Bihar government to pay '13 lakh to two sisters, who were victims of an acid attack when they were sleeping in their house.
Giving this direction while disposing of a writ petition filed by NGO Parivartan Kendra, a Bench of Justices M.Y. Eqbal and C. Nagappan pointed out that the compensation of '3 lakh for acid attack victims awarded by the apex court in the 'Laxmi’ case was only the minimum amount and the actual compensation would depend on the nature of the injuries sustained by the victim.
Writing the judgment Justice Eqbal said in this case one of the sisters, Chanchal suffered grievous burns and her father had already spent '5 lakh for her treatment.
Pointing out that it was the responsibility of the government to prevent such incident, the bench directed the Bihar government to pay Chanchal '10 lakh and '3 lakh to the other sister Sonam who received minor injuries.
The bench directed all the States and Union Territories to consider the plight of such victims and take appropriate steps with regard to inclusion of their names under the ‘disability list’ so that they could be properly rehabilitated by means of providing them employment.
The Bench said, “We have come across many instances of acid attacks across the country. These attacks have been rampant for the simple reason that there has been no proper implementation of the regulations or control for the supply and distribution of acid. There have been many cases where the victims of acid attack are made to sit at home owing to their difficulty to work.
These instances unveil that the State has failed to check the distribution of acid falling into the wrong hands even after giving many directions by this Court in this regard. Henceforth, a stringent action be taken against those persons supplying acid without proper authorisation.
