Srinagar: After the horrifying acid attack on a Srinagar girl, the district administration on Thursday set up a surveillance task force to regulate the sale of acid.
The team headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Syed Hanief Balkhi has members from police, enforcement metrology department and Labour Commission.
The order issued by District Magistrate Srinagar said that guidelines issued by Supreme Court in case of Laxmi versus Union of India would be adhered to for selling or storage of acid.
In 2013 the Supreme Court in the case of Laxmi v. Union of India directed the State governments and the Union territories to make appropriate rules for the sale of acid in states and Union Territories respectively.
It also directed the states to implement stringent norms for retail sale of acid, treating it as a poison under the Poisons Act, 1919. Banning the sale of acid to minors the Court said the corrosive substance can be sold to only those who have valid identity cards issued by the government and that too after specifying the purpose for the purchase in writing.
In December 2013 the Supreme Court further directed all the States to formulate specific guidelines regarding sale of acid and also for payment of compensation and providing free medical treatment for survivors of acid attacks and notify the same before April, 2014. The bench also asked the respective states to ensure that every police station, immediately after registering an FIR about an acid attack should intimate the concerned SDM, who would in turn inquire how the acid was procured by the assailant.
The order issued by district administration Srinagar includes all these directions and the surveillance task force set up has been directed to regulate sale of acid and other corrosive substances in the district.