The Supreme Court Friday asked the central government to convene the meeting of states and union territories for formulating suitable measures and guidelines for the medical care of acid attack victims.
Noting that not all the state governments and union territory administrations have responded to its earlier order regarding medical care of acid attack victims, the social justice bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said that union home and health secretaries would convene a meeting of their counterparts in the states for formulating measures and guidelines for this purpose
The court's order came on a PIL seeking better compensation and government taking full responsibility for the medical care for the acid attack victims. The petitioner had also sought the strict compliance of regulation on the sale of acid in the market.
The court also sought the response of state governments in terms of section 356 (c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure that provides for immediate medical care to acid attack victims both by the government as well as private hospitals as it was told that private hospitals could not be counted upon for providing free medical care to acid attack victims unless state government reimbursed them.
The court gave the central government four weeks to convene the meeting and another two weeks to finalise the report and place it before the court.