Shaheen Malik v. Union of India & Anr.

ITEM NO.45 COURT NO.1 SECTION PIL-W

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 1112/2025

SHAHEEN MALIK Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ANR. Respondent(s)

IA No. 320840/2025 - APPLICATION FOR TAKING ON RECORD
IA No. 25639/2026 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS
IA No. 138634/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 13309/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 135749/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 135304/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 134891/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 76169/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 75612/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 66897/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 189257/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 148795/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION
IA No. 26427/2026 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT

Date : 27-10-2026 This matter was called on for hearing today.

CORAM : HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JOYMALYA BAGCHI
HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE V. MOHANA

For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Saurabh Kirpal, Sr. Adv. Ms. Huda Naaz, Adv. Mr. Anuj Kapoor- 3016, AOR Ms. Adya Rajkotia Luthra, Adv. Mr. Rajat Choudhary, Adv. Mr. Arnav Abhishek, Adv. Ms. Zainab Khan, Adv. Mr. Daksh Kayastha, Adv.
For Respondent(s) : Dr. N. Visakamurthy- 3411, AOR Mr. Uddyam Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Swapnil Pattanayak, Adv. Ms. Kratika Kushwaha, Adv. Ms. Sanjana Saddy- 3231, AOR Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya- 1589, AOR Mr. Ahanthem Henry, Adv. Mr. Ahanthem Rohen Singh, Adv. Mr. Mohan Singh, Adv. Mr. Aniket Rajput, Adv. Ms. Khoisnam Nirmala Devi, Adv. Mr. Yeshu Mehta, Adv. Mr. Tanay Hegde, Adv. Mr. Kumar Mihir- 2116, AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi- 2648, AOR Mr. Shaurya Sahay, Adv. Mr. Z.H. Isaac Haiding, Adv. Mr. Daniel Stone Lyngdoh, Adv. Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Adv. Mr. Aditya S. Pandey, Adv. Mr. S.D. Sanjay, Advocate General Ms. Aditi Tripathi- 3192, AOR Mr. Udayan Sinha, Adv. Ms. Shravya Pathak, Adv. Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR Mrs. Shashi Pathak, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Anamika Mishra, Adv. Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Raj, Adv. Ms. Shubhra Singh, Adv. Mr. Amitt Mehta, Adv. Mr. Dhiraj Abraham Philip- 2643, AOR Mr. Ravi Raghunath- 3190, AOR Mr. Kamlendra Mishra- 1367, AOR Mr. Vinod Kumar, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Ashiwan Mishra, Adv. Mr. Krishna Pandey, Adv. Ms. Aditi Mishra, Adv. Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan- 2054, AOR Mr. Avneesh Arputham- 2627, AOR Mr. Ankit Sharma, Adv. Ms. Disha Singh- 3175 , AOR Ms. Eliza Barr, Adv. Ms. Akansha, Adv. Ms. Anjali Saxena, Adv. Mr. Govind Sharma, Adv. Mr. Saanil Patnayak, Adv. Mr. Ambhoj Kumar Sinha- 1236, AOR Ms. Neeti Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Aravindh S.- 2008, AOR Ms. Anika Bansal, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka- 2618, AOR Mr. Satyalipsu Ray, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Neha Singh, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. Mr. Binay Kumar- 4435, AOR Mr. Pavan Kumar- 1217, AOR Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Adv. Mrs. Neelam, Adv. Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Adv. Mr. Sahil Bhalaik- 2465, AOR Mr. Tushar Giri, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Anil Khanna, Adv. Mr. Ritik Arora, Adv. Mr. Shivam Mishra, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh, Adv. Mr. Mihir Joshi, Adv. Mr. Vaibhav Srivastava, A.A.G. Ms. Sugandha Anand- 3167, AOR Ms. Rupali Francesca Samuel- 4335, AOR Ms. K. V. Vinaya, Adv. Mr. P. I. Jose- 1206, AOR Mr. Jose Augustine, Adv. Mr. Md Rafiur Rahman, Adv. Mr. Atul Arvind, Adv. Mr. Dr. Mahesh Y Reddy, Adv. Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, D.A.G. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Standing Counsel, Adv. Mr. Ravinder Kumar Yadav, AOR Mr. Aman Shekhar, Adv. Mr. Rudraditya Khare, D.A.G. Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker- 2566, AOR Mr. Srajan Yadav, Adv. Ms. Shubhangi Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam- 3132, AOR Ms. Astha Singh- 3907, AOR Ms. Gauri Soni, Adv. Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Mukesh K Verma, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, Adv. Ms. Mili Joy Baxi, Adv. Mr. Anmol Chandan, Adv. Mr. Vaibhav Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Madhulika U., AOR Ms. Anubha Agrawal- 1887, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar- 2516, AOR Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Mr. Krishna Rastogi, Adv. Ms. Yachna Sharma, Adv. Mr. Prashant Shrikant Kenjale- 2993, AOR Ms. Damini Vishwakarma, Adv. Mr. Hrishikesh Wanzalkar, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Mittal- 3800, AOR Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Mr. Sujeet Kumar Chaubey, Adv. Ms. Anushka Raghunath, Adv. Mr. Mrigank Prabhakar- 2507, AOR Mr. Gunjan Rishi, Adv. Mr. Rajat, Adv. Mr. Aditya Soni- 2958, AOR Mr. Khan Ahmad Darvesh, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Dhama, Adv. Ms. Abha Sharma, AOR Mr. Saurabh Jain, Adv. Mr. Swapnesh Dak, Adv. Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Varij Nayan Mishra, Adv. Mr. Anando Mukherjee- 2500, AOR Mrs. Riya Dhingra, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal- 2955, AOR Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal- 3577, AOR Ms. Vandana Sehgal- 1801, AOR Mr. Mohit Yadav, Adv. Ms. Ruchira Goel- 2477, AOR Mr. Sharanya, Adv. Mr. Prasanna S.- 2919, AOR Ms. Disha Wadekar, Adv. Ms. Injila Muslim Zaidi, Adv. Mr. Maamidi Ashish Reddy, Adv. Mr. Prasanna B, Adv. Ms. Ishita Tulsyan, Adv. Mr. Karthik S.D.- 3476, AOR Mr. Amit Sharma, AOR Mr. Dipesh Sinha, Adv. Ms. Pallavi Barua, Adv. Ms. Aparna Singh, Adv. Mr. Shovan Mishra- 2456, AOR Ms. Bipasa Tripathy, Adv. Mr. Shlok Luthra, Adv. Mr. Abhikalp Pratap Singh, AOR Ms. Aagam Kaur, Adv. Ms. Kashish Jain, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Garg, Adv. Mr. Mukul Kumar- 1722, AOR Mr. Sabarish Subramanian- 2864, AOR Mr. Mridul Gupta, Adv. Ms. Anuradha Arputham- 3394, AOR Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker- 1698, AOR Ms. Manisha Ambwani- 2394, AOR Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR Mr. Suddhant Saroha, Adv. Mr. Sidhant Awasthy, Adv. Mr. Shravil Budkulia, Adv. Mr. Kanishk Bhatt, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Gulab Inamdar- 3386, AOR Mr. Shashwat Anand, Adv. Ms. Rakshita Singh, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy- 1672, AOR Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Ms. Radhika Gautam- 2287, AOR Mr. B. Shravanth Shanker, AOR Ms. Grahita Agarwal, Adv. Mr. I.v. Sai Nikhil, Adv. Ms. Prerna Robin, Adv. Mr. Shivam Kunal, Adv. Mr. B. Yeshwanth Raj, Adv. Mr. Tushar Gadia, Adv. Mr. Suryansh Jamwal, Adv. Ms. Patil Rekha Chandra Gouda- 3361, AOR Mr. Sudarshan Singh Rawat- 1661, AOR Ms. Anubha Dhulia, Adv. Mr. Sunny Sachin Rawat, Adv. Mr. Divyakant Lahoti, AOR Mr. Kartik Lahoti, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Soni, Adv. Ms. Shubheksha Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Vindhya Mehra, Adv. Ms. Praveena Bisht, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Shreya Gokel, Adv. Mr. Aviral Saxena- 2786, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande- 3259, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Shamra, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak- 2126, AOR Mr. Debasis Jena, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Vrinda Grover, Adv. Mr. Aakarsh Kumar, AOR Ms. Devika Tulsiani, Adv. Mr. Sudhir Kumar Saxena, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Mr. Aviral Saxena- 2786, AOR Mr. Abhinav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Shashank Kumar Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Vikas Rai, Adv. Mr. Shivansh Rajput, Adv. Ms. Varsha Choudhary, Adv. Mr. Zulfiker Ali, AOR Ms. Anna Oommen, Adv.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following

[NyayVidhan note: this order is recorded in the record of proceedings; there is no separate signed order. Paragraphs 1-10 carry the Court's numbers; the extract from the order of 14.07.2026 quoted in paragraph 4 is shown on its own line. The lists of counsel are given on one line for each side; the digital-signature block (dated 30.10.2026) and page numbers are left out.]

[Source: Supreme Court of India, api.sci.gov.in — order dated 27 October 2026.]

O R D E R

1. The instant interlocutory application, i.e. I.A. No.263852/2026, has been moved by NAVYA Centre for Justice and Social Change, a non-profit organisation based at Mohali, Punjab, acting through its founder, Dr. Navpreet Kaur.

2. We have heard Mr. Saurabh Kirpal, learned Senior Counsel, on behalf of the applicant, and also its founder. It is stated that Dr. Kaur has over 14 years of experience in research and advocacy concerning acid attack survivors. Pertinently, she is also a co-founder of the Laxmi Foundation, whose application for intervention, IA No. 135967/2026, was previously allowed by this Court vide order dated 14.07.2026. The founder, Dr. Kaur, has thus been associated with the cause of acid attack survivors for well over a decade.

3. The applicant has stated that it raises no independent or adversarial claim; does not seek to enlarge the scope of the proceedings, and seeks only to place field-based inputs before this Court. In this view of the matter, the application is allowed, and NAVYA Centre for Justice and Social Change is permitted to assist this Court as an intervener. I.A. No. 319466/2026, seeking permission to file additional documents, is also allowed.

4. The newly added intervener has also placed on record a “Comprehensive Survivor-Centric Policy Framework” dated 30.08.2026, which has been prepared in pursuance of the liberty granted to the Laxmi Foundation by this Court vide order dated 14.07.2026, the relevant part whereof reads as follows:
“1. Application (IA No. 135967/2026) for intervention is allowed. The Foundation is permitted to assist the Court. The Foundation may submit a proposal with respect to the actions that may require judicial intervention by this Court.”

5. A copy of the Policy Framework has been handed over to Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, learned Additional Solicitor General of India, who is requested to have it examined at the level of Government of India with a view to formulating a pan-India policy. Needless to say, the Union of India shall invite suggestions from all stakeholders before taking such policy decision.

6. We also direct the intervener/NAVYA Centre for Justice and Social Change to submit its Policy Framework to the Member Secretary, National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). NALSA shall, in turn, consider the submission with reference to its pre-notified schemes, and take such further action as may be considered appropriate, with the approval of the learned Executive Chairman thereof.

7. Similarly, a copy of the aforesaid draft policy be also supplied to Mr. Sudhir Kumar Saxena, learned Senior Counsel, who is assisting this Court as Amicus Curiae. His suggestions shall be considered in due course of time.

8. As regards compliance with our order dated 09.10.2026 passed in I.A. No. 320938/2026, we are informed that the victim is being duly attended to and is undergoing treatment at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. The accused has been arrested and is presently in custody. At this juncture, the victim and her family suggest that the former may be shifted to a private room. Consequently, we direct the hospital authorities to consider the desirability of the request.

9. Alternatively, the victim and her family may consider the desirability of shifting her to Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, which, we are informed, has excellent dedicated facilities for the treatment of burn injuries and post-burn care. Needless to say, any such decision shall be taken in consultation with the treating doctors, and the directions contained in our order dated 09.10.2026 shall continue to apply.

10. Insofar as the prohibition or regulation of the sale of acid is concerned, learned Additional Solicitor General seeks time to file an affidavit setting out the reasons for which the sale of acid in the open market continues to be permitted. She also seeks some time to suggest measures required to be implemented by the State authorities to prevent the misuse of acid available for sale. Let the affidavit be filed before the next date of hearing. Post the matter for further consideration on 23.11.2026.

(ARJUN BISHT) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS
(PREETHI DILEEP KUMAR) DY. REGISTRAR