November 12, 2024
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
The proposed Punjab Acid Control Bill 2024, to regulate the sale of acid in the province, remains hanging in the provincial assembly, as acid attacks continue to steadily grow.
Hina Pervez Butt, member of the Punjab Assembly and the chairperson of the Punjab Women Protection Authority, submitted the Punjab Acid Control Bill 2024 with the provincial assembly secretariat on September 5, announcing that sellers and buyers of acid would face strict action for the sale of the corrosive substance if they did not have permission. However, the proposed legislation has still not moved to the stage of being tabled in the provincial assembly.
According to the proposed legislation, acid vendors will require a permit issued by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of their respective district, with licenses valid for two years. Vendors who fail to obtain a license within 120 days of the bill’s enforcement will face fines and penalties. The bill also sets age restrictions, prohibiting the sale of acid to individuals under 18.
According to Gul Hassan Abbas, Executive Director, Initiatives for Sustainable Development (IFSD), whose organization has been pushing for legislation since years now, there is no proper law or regulatory framework on the sale and purchase of acid. Abbas said the topic of the misuse of acid, poisons or chemicals is not included in the Federal Legislative List, therefore, the provincial assembly itself has to think about legislation on the control of hazardous substances and chemicals.
“The sale of chemicals including corrosive substances like acids are still regulated under the colonial era law of Poisons Act, 1919, ” he told Voicepk.
Abbas said his organisation is working in collaboration with the provincial government to develop strategies to address Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Punjab.
“The IFSD helped draft the Punjab Acid Control Act, 2019 which was subsequently approved by the provincial cabinet under then Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, but the draft bill was never tabled in the provincial assembly due to the ensuing political upheaval,” he said.
MPA Hina Pervez Butt, who worked on the earlier draft, has submitted a revised bill on acid control with the assembly secretariat, he said. Abbas hoped that MPA Hina Butt, would use her influence as being part of the government and push through the legislation, as it is crucial to prevent and control acid attacks.
In his opinion, the Sindh government has been successful in curtailing acid attacks in the province due to the enforcement of the Sindh Regulation for Storage, Sale and Purchase of Acids Rules in 2022. Under the rules, the sale of acids has been restricted to licensed sellers including chemists, pharmacies, clinics, doctors, shopkeepers and school laboratories. The licensed dealers would keep records of buyers including a copy of their identity card and they must not be less than 18 years of age. In addition, the optimum concentration level of the acid should not cause injury or endanger human life.
Waheed Ahmed, a lawyer who works with acid survivors, said there was a dire need to regulate the sale of acids in Pakistan.
“India has enacted legislation that forbids over-the-counter availability of acids,” he said. “You cannot buy acid with high concentrations in Indian cities and even the drainage cleaners used in households have a reduced level of concentration that endangers life,” he explained.
Only recently, a woman and her elderly mother were victims of an acid attack, and remain in critical condition in a hospital of the Bahawalnagar district after her former husband doused them with acid on November 9. The police arrested the man who attacked his former spouse and mother-in-law for getting a divorce decree from the court. Hospital doctors said the victims suffered around 45 percent burns on their bodies, including face and neck, and their condition was still critical.
Likewise, a 14 year old girl was forced to drink acid for rejecting a man’s marriage proposal and is now in critical condition with severe damage to her mouth, throat, alimentary canal and stomach.