Acid ingestion included in amended Act: Centre to SC on redefining “acid attack victim”
The Union government told the Supreme Court that the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 now covers acid ingestion victims with internal injuries.
- The Act has been amended to expand the definition of acid attack victim to cover internal injuries caused by ingestion of acid or similar corrosive substances.
- The Supreme Court had earlier used Article 142 to include survivors of forcible acid ingestion within the protected category.
- The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita criminalises both acid-throwing and administration.
- The government said the amendment was notified on May 22 and has retrospective effect.
What happened
The Union government informed the Supreme Court that it has amended the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 so that an acid attack victim now includes a person who suffers internal injuries from ingesting acid or another corrosive substance. The change was notified on May 22, 2026 and is stated to have retrospective effect.
According to the government’s statement before the Court, the revised definition covers disfigurement caused externally or internally by violent assault, self-infliction, accidents involving throwing, administering, or spilling acid or similar corrosives.
UPSC may link acid ingestion victim recognition to rights-based legislation, judicial power under Article 142, and the gap between criminalisation and victim compensation. A likely framing is whether the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 adequately protects survivors of corrosive violence, including forcible acid ingestion, and how retrospective amendments affect access to benefits.
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