SC to pass order regulating sale of acid

The Supreme Court Thursday will pass an interim order on regulating the sale of acid at retail outlets in market across the country.

A bench of Justice R.M.Lodha and Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya said this as Solicitor General Mohan Prasaran told them that the government has framed the model rules to regulate the sale of acid throughout the country through retail outlets.

The court asked counsel Aparna Bhatt and Prasaran to together to decide on the rules they would like to be enforced to regulate the sale of acid.

Bhat, who appeared for petitioner Laxmi, who has sought the regulation of the sale of acid which was being used to attack girls. Laxmi is seeking treatment, after care and rehabilitation and compensation to the acid attack victims by the government and deterrent provision for the punishment of the accused.

The model rules framed by the government seek to regulate the grant of licences and also imposes restrictions on the people to whom it could be sold.

They also mandate maintenance of proper registers recording the sale of acid and by identifying the buyer to keep track of all sales.

According to the rules, no person, not exempted under the provision of the Poison Act would engage in the sale of or possession of the poison (acid).

They provide for the duration of licence, discretion of licensing authority, termination of licence, disposal of stocks on termination, revocation or cancellation of license, the person or firm whom license could be granted. etc.

A licence holder shall not sell any poison to any person, unless the later is personally known to him or identified to his satisfaction by way of identity proof.

In the course of the last hearing of the matter July 9, the court had slammed the central and the state governments for not doing anything to regulate the sale of acid in open retail market even though number of cases involving acid attacks were taking place every day.