Shaheen Malik v. Union of India - RPwD Act - Acid Attack Victims
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 - Pending an appropriate amendment to the Schedule of the 2016 Act, for all intents and purposes, and in order to give full effect to the legislative scheme underlying the 2016 Act, the expression “acid attack victims” shall be construed to include victims to whom acid has been administered. It shall further include those who have suffered internal injuries, irrespective of whether there is any external disfigurement of the body. This clarificatory interpretation shall be deemed to have been incorporated at Serial No. 1A(e) of the Schedule from the inception of the 2016 Act. (Para 8)
Case Info
Basic Case Information
Case name: Shaheen Malik v. Union of India & Anr.Neutral citation: Not mentioned in the order extract (only WP(C) number and date are given).Case number: Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1112 of 2025Court: Supreme Court of India, Court No. 1, Section PIL-WCoram: Hon’ble the Chief Justice and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Joymalya BagchiJudgment/order date: 04 May 2026
Statutes / Laws Referred
The order explicitly refers to:
- Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
- Section 2(zc) (definition of “specified disability”)
- Schedule, Serial No. 1A(e) – “acid attack victims” under “locomotor disability”
- Indian Penal Code, 1860 (now repealed)
- Section 326B – throwing or attempting to throw acid, or attempting to administer acid, etc.
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
- Section 124(2) – throwing or attempting to throw acid, or attempting to administer acid, etc.
No other case law (judicial precedents) or reported citations are mentioned in this extract.
Brief Summary (Three Sentences)
The Supreme Court noted that the definition of “acid attack victims” in the Schedule to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, as presently worded, inadvertently excludes victims to whom acid is forcibly administered and those who suffer only internal injuries without external disfigurement. Treating this as a gap in the statutory scheme, the Court issued a clarificatory interpretation that, pending formal amendment, “acid attack victims” under Serial No. 1A(e) shall be construed to include victims of administered acid and those with internal injuries, with this interpretation deemed effective from the inception of the 2016 Act. The Court also recorded the Solicitor General’s submission that the nodal Ministry has already initiated steps to amend the Schedule and directed that the matter be listed on 28.05.2026 for compliance.