Nagpur Bans Begging Ahead of G20, But Courts in the Past Have Begged to Differ
(Altered by The Quint)
Come next week, when delegates from across the world gather in Maharashtra’s Nagpur for a widely publicised G20 meet, they’ll witness what the police call a “beautified” city.
This, of course, will come at the cost of the homeless and the beggars, who can potentially land up behind bars for having become a source of “public annoyance.”
Why, you ask?
According to a Times of India report from 9 March, Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar has said:
And, although dubbed “a travesty of justice” by Supreme Court Lawyer Disha Wadekar, this is not happening for the first time.
In 2023, news of slum demolitions in Delhi for G20 has already started trickling in
In 2020, when then American President Donald Trump visited Ahmedabad, the city administration chose to conceal its slums behind a wall
In 2017, the police in Hyderabad made begging illegal ahead of Ivanka Trump’s visit to the city
In 2000, Hyderabad Police conducted a similar operation when then US President Bill Clinton visited
In addition to this, about 20 states, over the years have adopted the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959, which carries a penalty of detention of three to 10 years in 'beggar homes’
No and we are not the ones saying that.
And, in a 2018 judgment (Harsh Mander & Anr. vs Uoi & Ors), the Delhi High Court had addressed the structural reasons that cause poverty: “no access to education, social protection, discrimination based on caste and ethnicity, landlessness, physical and mental challenges, and isolation.”
Wadekar, explained this further:
According to legal experts and Courts: the State.
In fact, while pointing out that the “ existence of the need to beg” for sustenance was indicative of the miserable failure of the state to achieve “for all its citizens real justice” the Jammu & Kashmir High Court struck down the state’s anti-begging laws. (Suhail Rashid Bhat vs State of Jammu & Kashmir, 2019)
The Delhi High Court too, in 2018, had argued that “artificial means to make beggars invisible will not suffice.”
“The State simply cannot fail to do its duty to provide a decent life to its citizens and add insult to injury by arresting, detaining and, if necessary, imprisoning such persons, who beg, in search for essentials of bare survival, which is even below sustenance. A person who is compelled to beg cannot be faulted for such actions in these circumstances,” the court had said while decriminalising begging.
And added:
“This (criminalising begging) requires people to make an unreasonable choice between committing a crime to be rehabilitated or not commit the crime and starve which goes against the spirit of the Constitution.”
Violates The Right To Equality Before Law (Article 14)
By criminalising those from oppressed castes and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, anti-begging drives and laws become inconsistent with one's right to equality, Wadekar explained.
Violates The Right To Life (Article 21)
Since this right includes “the right to take steps including begging to survive and keep body and mind together,” criminalisation of begging deprives a person to obtain basic necessities of life, the Delhi High Court had said. (Harsh Mander & Anr. vs Uoi & Ors 2018)
Violates The Right To Freedom of Speech & Expression (Article 19)
The Delhi High Court had in 2006 (Ram Lakhan vs State) opined that since begging involves communicating one’s deprivations to another person, criminalising it also went against the Right To Freedom of Speech & Expression.
Perhaps, the Nagpur police would do well to remember the words of Justice Krishna Iyer (Gopalanachari vs State Of Kerala, 1980) when he had said that “picking up the homeless and the have-nots” cannot be permitted because to be poor is not a crime in this country.”
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