Last month while turning down acquittal plea filed by an acid attack convict, Supreme Court Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa ruled that acid attack offenders did not deserve any clemency and there could be no compromise in a case concerning an acid attack.

It was reported in the media that the convict, Javed Iqbal, had adopted the argument that he had been forgiven by the victim of the crime and he may be acquitted.

“The affected woman may well forgive [the convict], but the law cannot forgive an acid attack suspect,” the chief justice had observed. He said the punishment for throwing acid was life imprisonment and that it was a “crime against the state”.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act was enacted in Dec 2011 for punishing those causing hurt to anyone by using a corrosive substance including acid. The law is applicable throughout the country.

Through that Act some changes were made in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The Act provides for maximum sentence of life imprisonment and minimum of up to 14 years with fine of Rs1 million for the offence of hurting a person with corrosive substances.

Following enactment of this law interesting situation merged as now an offence of causing hurt to a person by use of corrosive substance is a non-compoundable offence as no compromise could take place in it and an accused is charged under section 336-B PPC. However, when an injured person dies of burn injuries, the case is converted to section 302 PPC, which is a compoundable offence and the legal heirs of a deceased victim is empowered to enter into compromise with accused persons.

Section 336B PPC states: “Whoever causes hurt by corrosive substance shall be punished with imprisonment for life or imprisonment of either description which shall not be less than 14 years and a minimum fine of one million rupees.”

Following these amendments the words “disfigure” and “deface” were added in Section 332 of the PPC, dealing with different kinds of hurt, and also adds an explanation to the said section, which states “disfigure means disfigurement of face or disfigurement or dismemberment of any organ or any part of the organ of human body which impairs or injures or corrodes or deforms the symmetry or appearance of a person.”

There is no exclusive and comprehensive law to deal with such like offences on provincial level. For over five years a draft bill, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Comprehensive Acid and Burn Crime Bill, has been under consideration of different stakeholders including KP Commission on Status of Women, civil society members and government departments.

Recently, a consultation was organised by Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF-Pakistan)in partnership withGroup Development Pakistan (GDP)andBlue Veins with different stakeholders including lawmakers of KP Assembly, government officials and civil society members over the said bill. Some of the law makers made commitment that the Bill would be passed by the end of this year.

An almost identical bill, Acid and Burn Crime Bill 2018, was passed by the National Assembly for Islamabad capital territory on May 8, 2018, and was referred to the Senate, but it could not be passed. As the National Assembly was dissolved last year for holding general elections, therefore, the said bill has to be tabled again.

In the existing law the issue of sale and purchase of corrosive substances has not been addressed and the government on federal and provincial levels needs to introduce laws wherein this aspect of the matter should also be considered.

In 2013, the Peshawar High Court had directed the federal government to make suitable amendments to the law for regulating the sale and purchase of acids as incidents of violence against women through use of acid were on the rise.

While hearing bail petition of an accused arrested on charges of smuggling certain chemicals, the then Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan had ruled that there were lacunas in the existing laws due to which the perpetrators of acid attacks on women were encouraged.

He had directed that the law should clearly spell out which would be the authority to issue licence for sale of acids; who can sell and purchase it; and for what purpose purchase of acid would be permissible.

Bangladesh is the first country which had enacted acid-related laws. In March 2002, the government enacted the Acid Crimes Control Act 2002 and the Acid Control Act 2002. The first law is aimed at controlling acid crimes by introducing strict punishments including death penalty.

The variations of punishment in that law depend on the parts of the body affected with acid attack. The sentence for killing of a person by acid or injuring a person resulting in loss of vision, loss of hearing, or damage or disfigurement of the face, breasts or sexual organs can result in capital punishment or rigorous imprisonment for life along with fine.

Similarly, under the Acid Control Act 2002 the unlicenced production, import, transport, storage, sale and use of acid became punishable with three to 10 years jail and the same applies to the possession of chemicals and equipment for the unlicenced production of acid. The National Acid Control Council (NACC) and District Acid Control Committees (DACC) were established under this act.

Similarly, in India the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, was enacted in Mar 2013 and through it amendments were made in Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and Code of Criminal Procedure on laws related to sexual offences and acid attacks. Through those amendments section 326-A and Section 326-B were included in IPC providing punishments for acid attack and attempted acid attack.

Moreover, in India, acid has been brought under the category ‘poison’ under the Poison Act 1919 in 2013 so as to enable regulatory purview over registration, sale and safe possession of substances classified as ‘acid’.

Legal experts in Pakistan believe that they also have to improve the medico-legal and criminal justice system for curbing acid attacks.

In 2001 the government had amended the CrPC and introduced Section 174-A which provided mechanism for prosecution of cases where women are victims of burns in stove-burst or acid throwing incidents. Due to lack of awareness among public functionaries concerned that section was yet to be properly implemented.

Section 174-A CrPC makes it binding on doctor who attends a burn victim to record the victim’s statement, which becomes admissible as ‘dying declaration’ if the victim dies.

Legal experts believe that the legislators should enact the comprehensive proposed law on acid and burn crimes control at the earliest and should also regulate the sale and purchase of acid and other corrosive substances.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2019