Acid being openly sold despite Supreme Court ban, says Swati Maliwal

Despite the Supreme Court ban, acid is being openly sold in the city, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) said on Thursday.

The women’s body claimed that it conducted an investigation during which its staffers went to 30 shops in two days and were able to procure acid from 23 shops, according to DCW chief Swati Maliwal.

Addressing a press conference here, Ms Maliwal said the commission is planning to send the probe report to lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung, asking for an immediate ban on the retail sale of acid and strict action against those who sell and procure acid in Delhi.

“Although open sale of acid is categorically banned by the Supreme Court, acid continues to be sold in shops all over Delhi. The DCW through its newly-launched ‘Acid Watch and Rehabilitation’ programme carried out an investigation,” Ms Maliwal said.

She said the DCW investigative team was able to procure acid without any difficulty from all the 11 districts of Delhi from shops in Seelampur, Khari Baoli, Daryaganj, Jangpura Extension, Rajouri Garden and several other markets across Delhi.

“Six staff members in a period of 2 days visited 30 shops across Delhi and were able to procure acid from 23 shops. Out of these, only 1 sought identification proof of the buyer. In Khari Baoli market, the shopkeeper convinced our staff to buy an entire crate of ‘very strong acid,” Maliwal said, claiming that acid sells for really cheap in national capital.

After a spate of acid attacks, the apex court in 2013 had banned over-the-counter sale of acid at retail outlets. As per the National Crime Records Bureau data from 2014, Delhi recorded 20 incidences of acid attacks, making it the third state with highest cases after West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.“In the past few months Delhi has witnessed several incidents of acid attacks. We are sending a report to L-G to immediately ban the retail sale of acid and take strict action against those who sell and procure acid,” Ms Maliwal said.