The Supreme Court today said it was dissatisfied with the steps state governments had taken to prevent acid attacks on people and asked the Centre to consider banning the sale of acids.

The court ordered the Centre to hold a meeting with representatives of state governments and form a policy on the rehabilitation, treatment and compensation of acid attack victims. It told the Centre that it wanted concrete steps to deal with acid attacks.

Women are the most frequent target of acid attacks and a seemingly endless series of such incidents has led for demands that the authorities frame tougher laws to protect people and punish culprits.