To eliminate acid attacks, the national capital must take a cue from Bangladesh where unlicensed production, import, transport, storage, sale and use of acid is a cognizable non-bailable offence, said the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief today.
The Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal recommended emulation of the Bangladesh scheme as a model for legislation to curb acid-related crimes.
Maliwal has also proposed banning of acid sale and strictly control the wholesale procurement of acid for scientific and commercial purposes.
She sent a set of recommendations to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and urged him to constitute consultation committees to regulate acid sale in the national capital.
"Delhi can emulate the case of Bangladesh which is credited with decreasing the incidence of acid attacks by 20 per cent after introduction of stringent laws against acid attacks.
"Acid Control Act of Bangladesh (2002) makes the unlicensed production, import, transport, storage, sale and use of acid as punishable offences with a prison sentence of three to 10 years," Maliwal said in the letter.
She also suggested that the penalties recovered from acid license inspections (Rs 16,78,000 so far) should be channelised towards the rehabilitation of acid attack victims.
The Commission had a few months back had directed all District Magistrates (DMs) in Delhi to furnish information regarding acid sales in their respective jurisdictions, including action taken to regulate acid sales and action taken in adherence to the Supreme Court's orders.
"Based on the data submitted to us by DMs, we found that there are loopholes in the process of implementation of the Supreme Court guidelines in Laxmi vs Union of India," Maliwal said in the letter.
The data submitted by DMs show that 20 of the 33 sub divisions in Delhi did not maintain any information regarding acid retailers within their jurisdiction, she said.
"Also, there are lacunae in current schemes for regulating
acid sales. Licensing of acid vendors does not occur per-se. Also, as per a Delhi-wide notification, the acid seller is required to submit a fortnightly report to the SDM detailing his or her sales.
"However, unless an acid retailer voluntarily submits the above mentioned report, the SDM cannot possibly know of the existence of the retailer. The above loophole provides scope for unregulated acid sale and needs to be rectified," the DCW chief said in her letter to Sisodia.
Highlighting the weak provisions of Poisons Act, 1919, Maliwal said that the Supreme Court in 2013 ruled that the states must formulate rules for incorporation of acid as a poison under Poisons Act, 1919 but "the laws dealing with prohibition and control of acid sale lack any teeth".
She also stated that acid attacks attract life imprisonment while acid sale has minimum punishment.
"Unregulated acid sale is a major cause for continued acid attacks against women in India. According to NCRB data from 2014, Delhi, with 20 incidences of acid attacks, figures as the third highest state after West Bengal and UP," Maliwal said in the letter.
