June 09, 2026
by Ahmed Saeed
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has recommended the establishment of a national acid survivors’ rehabilitation fund and called for a digital system to monitor all acid sales in real time in all provinces and federal capital.
These directions were given in a landmark judgment that upheld the life imprisonment sentence of a Faisalabad man convicted of throwing acid on a woman.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, and comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, said the federal and provincial governments must ensure a complete ban on the sale of acid to private individuals wherever such unregulated retail trade persists.
“We further recommend creation and implementation of a centralized digital system governed and monitored by the concerned authorities in real time to process all legal acid sales and purchases. Under this digital system, entities intending to purchase acid must apply through prescribed electronic forms, ensuring collection of the following essential details for every purchase including but not limited to quantity of acid, purpose of purchase, name and details of the purchaser, picture and biometric thumb impression of the purchaser”, the order added.
The court albaorated that the a National Acid Survivors’ Rehabilitation Fund shall provide shall provide following to the survviors
· comprehensive medical coverage for financing for exhaustive reconstructive surgeries and specialized physical therapy
· Ensuring psychological and social rehabilitation through mandatory access to professional trauma counseling, psychotherapy, and psychiatric care to combat the “social death,” depression, and PTSD that frequently follow such attacks
· Economic security through a mandatory monthly stipend for survivors who, due to the nature of their injuries or ongoing medical condition, are rendered incapable of financial self-support.
· National Rehabilitation Guidelines as a standardized framework ensuring gratuitous, lifelong medical and mental health treatment across all state-mandated and private medical facilities (funded by the above-mentioned fund)
Disability Status for Survivors
The court also held that acid attack survivors who suffer permanent physical or sensory damage must be formally classified as Persons with Disabilities, entitling them to official disability certificates, employment quotas, educational reservations, and all state-sponsored welfare benefits as a matter of law.
Citing documented cases of Pakistani survivors who underwent as many as 25 reconstructive surgeries following attacks, the bench observed that the lifelong impairments caused by vitriolage — including permanent blindness, loss of limb function, and psychosocial trauma — fully satisfy the legal criteria for disability classification.
The Case
The directives came in the context of a petition filed by Abdul Manan alias Imran, who had challenged his conviction and life sentence under Section 336-B of the Pakistan Penal Code. The Anti-Terrorism Court, Faisalabad had convicted him in February 2020 for throwing acid on victim Mst. Iqra Perveen while she was cooking in the kitchen of her home on September 4, 2019.
The attack caused third-degree burns across 40 per cent of her body, including her face, chest, back, left leg and left foot, and resulted in the complete destruction of her left ear. The Lahore High Court upheld the conviction in November 2022, after which the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.
Juvenility Plea Dismissed
The petitioner’s counsel argued for leniency on the ground that his client was approximately 17 to 18 years of age at the time of the attack, citing lack of prior criminal record and the possibility of reformation.
However, the court rejected the plea and noted “that shield of juvenility cannot be invoked to mitigate a punishment for such an inhumane act.”
It further noted that Evidence showed the petitioner had arrived at the victim’s residence carrying a can of acid — establishing premeditation rather than a crime of impulse.
“Petitioner’s conduct post-occurrence further aggravates his position; rather than showing remorse, he resorted to the absurd and malicious defense of victim-blaming, alleging that the injuries were self-inflicted.. To suggest that a young girl would subject herself to such agonising torture is a premise that defies both logic and human nature”, the order read.
Reaffirming earlier observations by former Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, the bench held that acid attacks constitute an offence worse than murder. “Unlike death, which consumes its victim only once, the victim of an acid assault is relegated to a ‘living death,’ where they are compelled to endure the agony of their trauma and the degradation of their physical self on a daily basis,” the court observed.
Speedy Trial Directive
The court directed all High Courts to actively monitor acid attack cases and ensure strict adherence to the four-month trial timeline prescribed under the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, 2021, warning that delays in adjudication amounted to secondary victimisation of survivors.
Welcoming the Punjab Acid Control Act 2025 as a “watershed moment in provincial jurisprudence,” the bench expressed hope that comparable regulatory frameworks would be urgently adopted across all remaining jurisdictions.
Compensation Ordered
Noting that the courts below had failed to exercise their mandatory powers under Section 544-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the bench directed the petitioner to pay Rs1 million as compensation to the victim, recoverable as arrears of land revenue in the event of default.
The court directed that a copy of the judgment be forwarded to all High Courts, the Federal Secretary for Law and Justice, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Law and Justice, and the law secretaries of all four provincial governments.