Supreme Court Seeks Data from High Courts on All Pending Acid Attack Trials
SC calls 16-year delay in Delhi case a ‘national shame’; seeks disability status for survivors
New Delhi, Dec 4: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed all high courts to furnish details of pending acid attack trials across the country within four weeks, sharply criticising the 16-year delay in one such case in Delhi as a “national shame.”
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the Centre and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities while hearing a PIL filed by acid attack survivor Shaheen Malik.
Calling the prolonged pendency of Malik’s own 2009 case before a Rohini court “a mockery of the legal system,” the CJI said, “If the national capital cannot handle this, then who will? This is a national shame.”
The bench asked Malik to file an application in the same PIL explaining the reasons behind the delay, assuring her that the court may even take suo motu cognisance of the lapse.
The Supreme Court has sought data from all high courts on the number and status of acid attack trials pending in subordinate courts.
During the hearing, Malik described the long-term suffering victims endure from artificial feeding tubes to severe disabilities — underscoring the urgent need for systemic reform.
The bench also asked the Centre to respond to her plea seeking recognition of acid attack survivors as persons with disabilities to ensure access to welfare benefits and support schemes.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured the bench that the matter would be examined with “due seriousness,” adding that perpetrators of such crimes “should meet with the same ruthlessness as done here.”
The CJI urged the Union government to consider amending the law — through legislation or even an ordinance to formally include acid attack survivors under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, and recommended that these cases be tried before special courts for faster justice.
