Delhi police have questioned officials of e-commerce firm Flipkart for allegedly selling acid on its platform despite a Supreme Court ban on the substance.
The police issued a notice on December 15 karting After the prime minister was accused of attacking a girl with acid in Dwarka, Delhi said he bought the substance from an e-commerce site.
Officials were questioned on Wednesday and were not satisfied with the company’s responses, according to police.
The company has responded to the notification, saying the acid was sold by an Agra-based company.
Whether they will be questioned again will be decided later, police said.
It may be mentioned that, in order to promote Supreme Court In Laxmi v Union Of India & Ors, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued an advisory opinion on 30 August 2013 on ‘Measures to be taken to prevent acid attacks on persons and to provide treatment and rehabilitation for survivors’ .
The Home Office has asked all States/Federal Territories to take immediate steps to implement measures to reduce acid attacks and the treatment and rehabilitation of acid attack survivors mentioned in the consultation.
“Consumer rights” as defined in section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 include the right to be protected from the marketing of goods, products or services which endanger life and property.
The Ministry said that the sale of highly corrosive acids in an easy, accessible and unregulated manner without any due diligence by e-market entities could have disastrous consequences for consumers, especially society. Vulnerable groups, namely women and children.
Under Regulation 4(3) of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020, e-commerce entities shall not engage in any unfair trade practices, whether in the course of business on their platforms or otherwise.
A girl was seriously injured on December 14 when two masked men on bicycles poured acid on her minutes after she left her home for school in west Delhi.
Three people – the main accused Sachin Arora and his two friends Harshit Aggarwal (19) and Virender Singh (22) – have been arrested.
Police, Law and Order Special Commissioner Sagar Preet Hooda told a news conference that the acid used in the attack was procured through an e-commerce portal and Arora paid for it through an e-wallet.
During the interrogation, it was learned that Alora and the victim had been friends until September. After they argued, the accused attacked her, Huda said, adding that he lived near the girl.
