In a significant step, the Supreme Court on Friday directed all the government and private hospitals in the country to provide first-aid and medical treatment free of cost to the victims of acid attacks.
The Social Justice Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Uday U Lalit asked all state governments and Union Territories to immediately take up the matter with the private hospitals to ensure that acid attack victims are attended to immediately and adequately.
`The section says that all hospitals, public or private, whether run by the central or state government, local bodies or any other person, “shall immediately, provide first-aid or medical treatment, free of cost, to the victims of any offence covered under section 326A, 376, 376A, 376B, 376C, 376D or section 376E of the Indian Penal Code, and shall immediately inform the police of such incident”.
The government spelt out its stand that emerged from the meeting of state and union territories’ chief secretaries and health secretaries jointly convened by the union home and health secretaries on March 14, 2015 as was directed by the social justice bench on February 6, 2015.
Asking the state governments to widely disseminate the information, the court also asked them not to shut their doors on the acid attack victims.