HC relief sends 41 patients back to detention
NEW DELHI: A leprosy patient who moved court saying he was rendered “homeless” and forced to brave the harsh Delhi winter after being released from a government correctional centre because begging was decriminalised in the city last year, were given temporary relief by the Delhi high court, which directed the state government to let him and 40 other patients return to detention home for now.
The petitioner, Rajeev Kumar, and the 40 other leprosy patients were lodged at the Home for Leprosy and TB-affected patients (HLTB) in Shahdara after being caught for begging on the city’s streets.
OUT OF 11 INSTITUTIONS RUN BY DELHI GOVT FOR BEGGARS, 2 WERE BEING USED AS INCARCERATION CENTRES, OR JAILS FOR CONVICTED LEPROSY-AFFECTED BEGGARS
On August 8, 2018, begging was decriminalised by the Delhi high court on a petition filed by social activists Harsh Mander and Karnika Sawhney. The court had said the state cannot fail to do its duty to provide a decent life to its citizens and should not “add insult to injury” by arresting and imprisoning those who beg. It had observed that a person who is compelled to beg cannot be faulted. Under the Bombay Begging Act, a person convicted for begging could be sentenced to maximum imprisonment of three years.
On Thursday, justice Vibhu Bakhru said the leprosy patients could not be left homeless. “The petitioner and other persons cannot be homeless at the mercy of the respondents [Delhi government]. In this view, the respondent is directed to accommodate the petitioner and similarly placed persons who have been removed from the home back in said premises,” justice Bakhru said.
According to the plea, filed through advocate Manisha Bhandari, Kumar, who was convicted for begging in October 2017 and was to remain in the home October 11, 2018, alleged he and other inmates have to face severe hardship for their sustenance. Some of the patients, the plea said, are forced to pick up leftover food from dustbins.
Out of 11 institutions run by the Delhi government for housing beggars, two were being used as incarceration centres, or jails for convicted leprosy-affected beggars. The other nine were for non-leprosy beggars. The patients were lodged in these till their prescribed conviction period ended.
The petition contends that the 41 beggars, who are patients of leprosy, have a “distinct case” as compared to those beggars who have any other diseases because there is a stigma attached to leprosy.
Appearing for the Delhi government, standing counsel Gautam Narayan told the court that there is no scheme available at the moment for rehabilitation of such patients. He sought time to file a reply to the petition.
The court gave six weeks time to the Delhi government to reply but directed that the patients be allowed to return to the home until then.
Reacting to the court’s direction, Rajesh Kumar, executive director of the Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SPYM) said: “The Delhi government has many shelters, which are vacant and these patients should be brought to these homes without any discussion”.
The next hearing is on July 23.