NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court recently ruled that the term "acid" used in the provision for punishment of acid attacks includes substances that are acidic in nature and can result in temporary or permanent disability while upholding a trial court's decision convicting three men for throwing acid on a woman in 2014.
A division bench of Justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal stated that Section 326A of the Indian Penal Code covers circumstances in which any part of the body can sustain partial or permanent harm, burn or deformity produced by "any other method" in addition to acid.
The HC further stated that the meaning of the word "acid" used in Section 326A has been provided by the legislature in Explanation 1 of Section 326B. According to Section 326A of the IPC, "whoever bums or maims or disfigures or disables any part or parts of a person's body or causes grievous hurt by throwing acid on or by administering acid to that person, or by using any other means with the intention of causing or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause such injury or hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not exceed five years." It will also be affordable to cover the victim's treatment's medical costs, mentioned a statement added by HC.
In June 2014, the woman was returning home from a temple when the inmates allegedly poured acid on her.
The prosecution asserted that she had filed a complaint against one of the defendants for harassing her before the acid attack. Due to the lack of evidence that the substance thrown on the victim was acid or another corrosive chemical, the prisoners appealed against the high court's decision to send them to jail.
The bench presided over by Justice Mukta Gupta ordered that the victim be paid the whole amount of the Rs 2.5 lakh fine imposed on the convicts by the trial court because of the seriousness of the offence committed in Mathura and its significant impact on the victim's life and livelihood.
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