The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday upheld the life sentence of a man convicted of throwing acid on a woman in Faisalabad, rejecting his appeal for leniency on grounds of juvenility.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Hashim Khan Kakar and including Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, issued the 13-page ruling in the case of Abdul Mannan, who had attacked Iqra Parveen.
The court held that juvenile age cannot be used as a shield in brutal and premeditated crimes. It noted that acid attacks are more horrific than murder while murder kills once, an acid attack victim suffers for the rest of their life.
The bench also ordered Abdul Mannan to pay Rs1 million in compensation to Parveen.
On procedure, the court directed all high courts to ensure trials in acid attack cases are wrapped up within four months, with the respective benches monitoring such cases themselves.
The ruling also called on the government to immediately ban open acid sales to the public and put in place a biometric and centralised digital monitoring system for all acid transactions, making it mandatory to record buyers’ CNICs and fingerprints at the point of sale.
The court further ordered the establishment of a national rehabilitation fund for acid attack survivors, directing the government to cover all costs of plastic surgery and psychological treatment.
Survivors with permanent injuries are to receive disability certificates, monthly stipends and special quotas in government jobs, educational institutions and welfare schemes.
The Supreme Court also instructed its registrar to circulate copies of the ruling to all high courts, federal and provincial law departments, the Attorney General and Advocate Generals.
