 bill no  116   of  2014 the acid control, prevention of acid attacks and rehabilitation of acid attack victims bill, 2014 by shri bhartruhari mahtab, mp a billto provide for regulation of trade and business of acid, prevention of acid attacks and rehabilitation of the victims of acid attacks and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-fifth year of the republic of india as follows:— chapter  i preliminaryextent and commencementdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "acid" means any acidic solution, the sale and distribution of which is declared by the central government to be governed by or under the provisions of this act; and(b) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act5 chapter ii control of sale and use of acid3 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, publish a list of acids for the purpose of regulating the sale and distribution of acidscentral government to publish list of acids10(2) the central government shall prescribe the degree of concentration of acids to be sold at retail outlets for different purposes(3) no acid of greater than prescribed concentration at the retail outlets shall be sold15regulation of trade or business of acid4  (1) no person shall produce, import, store, sell or transport or otherwise engage in trade or business of acid without obtaining a license from the competent authority to be designated for the purpose by the central government for carrying on such business or trade(2) every person who is engaged in trade or business of acid shall—(i) maintain record of the quantity of acid in his possession in such manner as may be prescribed; and20(ii) maintain details such as name,  age, address, occupation of purchaser of acid including quantity and purpose of purchasing the acid, in such manner as may be prescribed chapter iii rehabilitation of acid attack victims255 (1) every victim of acid attack shall be provided free medical treatment in government hospitals and designated private hospitalstreatment of acid attack victims(2) the central government shall bear the entire cost of treatmentexplanation—for the purpose of this section, the expression 'medical treatment'includes any surgery including plastic or cosmetic surgery that may be required to remove, completely or partially, any bodily disfigurement caused by acid attack30acid attack victims to be treated as persons with disability in certain cases356 where an acid attack has caused substantial bodily harm or disfigurement to such an extent, as may by prescribed, to a victim, such victim shall be deemed as person with disability for the purpose of availing benefits under the schemes meant for persons with disability, including employment under the central government, autonomous bodies under the central government and central public sector undertakingsallowance to acid attack victims407 where an acid attack victim has suffered such bodily harm or disfigurement in anacid attack as is likely to impair his chances of obtaining gainful employment or carrying on any gainful occupation, the central government shall pay to such victim a monthly allowance which shall not be less than four times the amount of old age pension payable in the union territory in which the victim resides chapter iv offences and penaltiespenalties8 whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (3)  of section 3 or section 4shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees or both chapter v amendment of the indian penal code, 186045 of 18609 in section 326b of the indian penal code, 1860, for the words ''seven years'', thewords ''imprisonment for life'' shall be substitutedamendment of the indian penal code, 1860 5 chapter vi miscellaneouspower to remove difficulties1010 (1) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of two years from the date of commencement of this act(2) every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before each house of parliament15act to have overriding effect11 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistenttherewith contained in any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this actpower to make rules12 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of the act20 25(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made,before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsthe growing incidents of acid attacks, especially on women, have become an area of grave concern despite the recent amendment to the criminal laws making acid attack a specific offence, the incidents of acid attacks have not shown any downward trend2 in order to check this growing menace, the bill seeks to provide for—(i) increasing the quantum of punishment to life imprisonment for throwing ofacid on any person by amending section 326b of the indian penal code, 1860;(ii) regulation of trade and business of acids; (iii) free treatment of victims of acid attack; (iv) payment of monthly allowance to certain victims of acid attacks; and(v) treating certain victims of acid attack as persons with disability to enable them to secure benefits under the schemes meant for persons with disability 3 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectives hence this billnew delhi;bhartruhari mahtabaugust  5, 2014 financial  memorandumclause 5 of the bill seeks to provide for free medical treatment of victims of acid attack at government and designated private hospitals clause 6 provides for entitlement of employment to the victims of acid attack clause 7 provides for payment of monthly allowance to certain victims of acid attack whose chances of securing gainful employment or occupation have been adversely affected as a result of acid attackthe bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india at this stage it is not possible to give an exact amount of expenditure involved as it would depend upon the number of eligible victims of acid attack however, it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees one crore is likely to be involved per annumno non-recurring expenditure is likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 12 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of  detail only, the delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character annexure extract from the indian penal code, 1860 (45 of 1860)voluntarily throwing or attempting to throw acid326b whoever throws or attempts to throw acid on any person or attempts to administer acid to any person, or attempts to use any other means, with the intention of causing permanent or partial damage or deformity or burns or maiming or disfigurement or disability or grievous hurt to that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fineexplanation 1— for the purposes of section 326a and this section, "acid" includes any substance which has acidic or corrosive character or burning nature, that is capable of causing bodily injury leading to scars or disfigurement or temporary or permanent disabilityexplanation 2— for the purposes of section 326a and this section, permanent or partial damage or deformity shall not be required to be irreversible———— a billto provide for regulation of trade and business of acid, prevention of acid attacks and rehabilitation of the victims of acid attacks and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri bhartruhari mahtab, mp)