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Prevention of destitution; legal framework

By

S. Vishnu Ameya

18 LLB 090

Semester: 4th Semester

Name of the Program: 5year B.A., LL.B.

Name of the Faculty: Ms. Bhagya Lakshmi

DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY NYAYAPRASTHA,

SABBAVARAM, VISAKHAPATNAM-531035 ANDHRA PRADESH

Date of Submission: 12th December, 2020

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Bhagya Lakshmi maam in alloting me
the topic Prevention of destitution; legal framework, as this topic helped me in understanding
the nuances about various laws in force to further the aims of our founding fathers as well as
a socio-legal perspective in understading such issues.
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SYNOPSIS

INTRODUCTION

According to the 2011 State-wise Census, the total population of beggars and vagrants in
India was approximately 4.13 lakhs.1 In the absence of any Central legislation, the enactment
and implementation of laws pertaining to beggary is within the purview of the State
governments. At present, twenty states and two union territories have laws in place which
criminalise ‘begging,’ defined so ambiguously that it affords enough scope for the authorities
to detain any person who merely ‘looks’ poor. Under the current beggary laws, any person
found ‘begging’ can be arrested without a warrant by either a police officer or anyone
authorised in this behalf. A ‘summary enquiry’ is then held in any court exercising criminal
jurisdiction in respective area. The arrested person can either be released – after admonition –
on a bond, or be detained in a ‘Certified Institution’ – also called beggar home – for a period
ranging between one year and three years. If a person is convicted for ‘begging’ for the
subsequent time, the detention period can be extended to ten years. Beggar homes are
custodial centres which are supposed to provide training, employment and medical facilities
to the inmates; but the inhuman treatment meted out to the inmates inside these homes has
continued to draw strong condemnation from both civil society activists and statutory bodies.
It was only in January 2017 that the Delhi Commission for Women noted cases of ‘serious
human rights violations’ – including alleged sexual assault – against women foreign
nationals, who were detained as beggars after their visas had expired. The DCW had also
cited cases of racial discrimination, provision of unhygienic food, filthy toilets, and lack of
medical treatment to pregnant women.2 Two things are sufficiently clear. First, the present
approach of the legal system towards beggary is not rehabilitative but punitive, i.e., rather
than rehabilitating the destitute person engaged in begging, such laws legitimise detention
and punishment as tools to prevent the proliferation of beggars, thereby equating poverty with
illegality. Second, under the current laws, to ‘beg’ and to ‘look like a beggar’ are not any
different from each other. Hence, what is criminalised is not only the act of begging, but also
the very presence of a person who might beg – a reason why the beggary laws operate on

1
Press Information Bureau’s release, ‘M/O SJ&E organizes Pre-Legislative Consultation meeting on 'Persons in
Destitution Model Bill- 2016.’ Retrieved from http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=151786
2
Express News Service. (2017, January 6). DCW notice to FRRO: Condition of foreigners in Beggars’ Home
‘horrific’. The Indian Express. Retrieved from http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/dcw-notice-to-frro-
condition-offoreigners-in-beggars-home-horrific-4461148/.
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what Usha Ramanathan (2008: 33) calls the “presumption of potential criminality.” 3These
questions need to be kept in mind while reading The Persons in Destitution (Protection, Care
and Rehabilitation) Model Bill, 2016,’ which was introduced last year by the Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Whether there is a need for a statute that exclusively deals with the prevention and
protection of rights of the Destitutes?

2. Whether the enactment of a central law which criminalizes the act of vagrancy or beggary
be constitutionally valid?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Primary Sources:

1.Constitution of India

2. Judgements of the Supreme Court of India and High Courts

Secondary Sources:

1. Journals

1.1 Shri Krishna Upadhyay and Sukriti, A CASE FOR UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME
IN INDIA, (2018) 11 NUJS L Rev 261.

The aforementioned article is of great help in juxtaposing universal basic income in india and
comparing it with various jurisdictions globally. This article had given me various
dimensions about anti-beggary laws in india and suggested scope for reform through data.

1.2 Ajay, LEGAL PROTECTION OF THE STREET CHILDREN IN INDIA: A

CRITICAL ANALYSIS, ILI Law Review Summer 2019.

The current article is of great help when it comes to understanding the plight of street
children under the UDHR and the implementing legislations in India when it comes to
protecting them. the author had focussed on the hurdles of implementing these legislations.

3
Ramanathan, U. (2008). Ostensible Poverty, Beggary and the Law. Economic and Political Weekly, 43(44),
33-44.
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1.3 RGICS POLICYWATCH, Volume : 6, Issue-5, A Critique of the Persons in

Destitution Model Bill, 2016

This article looked at the history and order and efficacy of all legislations aimed at alleviating
destitution and also critically analyzed the destitution model bill, 2016 and its lacunae.

2. Books

3. Websites

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology involved in the present paper is mainly mostly doctrinal. Various
legal decisions and statutes have been dealt with in order to better elucidate upon the decision
at hand. Multiple surveys and data in relation to the present issue have also been delved into
in order to put forth more accurate information. The methodology adopted is largely
analytical and descriptive. Reliance has been placed largely on secondary sources like books
and articles.

LIMITATION OF STUDY

It was not possible to conduct field surveys in relation to the issue being discussed due to
non-proximity of the target population, upon whom the surveys are to be conducted. The
research was primarily based on secondary data, which could have slightly varied over time.

MODE OF CITATION

The 20 th Edition of the Bluebook system of citation is followed throughout in the contents.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The Right To Beg………………07

2. The Persons In Destitution (Protection, Care And Rehabilitation) Model Bill,

2016…………………..08

2.1 Rights Violations: Laws That Criminalize Vagrancy And Homelessness Are
Unlawful………08

3. The Eradication Of Vagrancy Can Become A Reality With The Setting Up Of

Beggars’ Homes, Instead Of The Enactment Of A Law That Seeks To Criminalize
Beggary……….09

3.1 Anti-Vagrancy Law In India………10

4. The Introduction Of Better Social Security Schemes Can Bring About The Creation
Of An Environment That Better Suits The Needs Of The Poorer Section Of The
Society…..10

5. Analysis…………12

6. Judicial Pronouncements………………..12

6.1 Bandhua Mukhti Morcha Vs. Union Of India4: Case Analysis…………..17

6.2 Danial Lattifi Vs. Union Of India: Case Analysis…………….17

7. Protection Of Street Children In India…………….19

7.1 The Street Children (Protection Of Rights) Bill, 2001……………20

8. Conclusion…………………..20

4
AIR 1984 SC 802.
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1. THE RIGHT TO BEG

In Ram Lakhan vs State, the Delhi High Court had questioned the idea of a complete
prohibition on begging. Although not questioning the validity of the respective Act (Delhi
Prevention of Begging Rules, 1960), it noted that depriving a beggar of the liberty to solicit
alms by spoken words or action can run counter to Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution,
which guarantees to all citizens the right to “freedom of speech and expression.” The court
highlighted that “[j]ust as an advertisement of a product would be within the perimeter of this
valuable fundamental right, begging, too, could fall within it.” 5 It also underlined the
observation made in the People of the State of New York vs. Eric Schrader, where the
solicitation of funds by legitimate charities was compared to begging by individuals in need –
“No rational distinction can be made between the message involved, whether the person
standing in the corner says ‘Help me, I'm homeless’ or ‘Help the Homeless.’ Thus, any
progressive law that proposes to address the issues of destitute persons requires not only that
the state rehabilitates them, but also that it allows them to exercise their right to peacefully
solicit alms. However, under Section 3 of the new Bill, ‘beggar offenders’ (people found
begging even after receiving rehabilitation) shall invite police action and indefinite detention
in the Rehabilitation Centre. Ultimately, the Bill does not delink beggary from illegality.
Additionally, since the definition of ‘persons in destitution’ includes ‘persons in begging,’
and ‘begging’ includes ‘offering any article for sale,’ rehabilitated people carrying out
legitimate economic activities, or worse, appearing as ‘wanderers’ with possible injuries and
ailments, still stand a chance of being detained by the police authorities. This brings us to the
question of consent. All rehabilitative measures by the state should be undertaken based on a
consensus between itself and the destitute persons. In majority of the cases where people
were misidentified as beggars, protesting innocence bore no fruit. Moreover, the existing
beggary laws in India have a continuing history of harassment of destitute persons by the
police outside and the authorities inside the beggar homes. It then becomes critical for any
rehabilitative legislation to categorically provide for the protection of destitute persons

5
137 (2007) DLT 173.
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against coercion and abuse in the process of identification and rehabilitation. Alas, through
introducing the ‘good faith’ clause, the Bill walks in a completely opposite direction –
providing state actors with enough scope to resort to coercive means while identifying
unwilling destitute persons to send them to rehabilitation centres.

2. THE PERSONS IN DESTITUTION (Protection, Care and

Rehabilitation) MODEL BILL, 2016

According to the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Bill seeks to address the
problem of ‘destitution’ through rehabilitative – rather than punitive – measures, which
include protection, care, support, shelter, training, etc. for the destitute population. 6 It has
been in the consultation phase for over a year and largely invisible in popular discourse.
Under Section 2(2),Persons in destitution’ refers to homeless persons, persons in begging,
persons with physical and mental disabilities, the old, infirm and other such persons who are
above 18 years of age and in a state of poverty or abandonment arising from economic or
social deprivation and sustained unemployment.

Section 2(3) of the Act defines begging as,

(a) Soliciting or receiving alms, in a public place whether or not under any pretence such as
singing, dancing, fortune telling, performing or offering any article for sale;

(b) entering on any private premises for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms;

(c) exposing or exhibiting, with the object of obtaining or extorting alms, any sore, wound
injury, deformity of diseases whether of a human being or animal;

(d) having no visible means of subsistence and wandering, about or remaining in any public
place in such condition or manner, as makes it likely that the person doing so exist soliciting
or receiving alms; (e) allowing oneself to be used as an exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or
receiving alms; but does not include soliciting or receiving money or food or given for a
purpose authorizes by any law.

2.1 RIGHTS VIOLATIONS: LAWS THAT CRIMINALIZE VAGRANCY

AND HOMELESSNESS ARE UNLAWFUL

6
Press Information Bureau’s release, ‘M/O SJ&E organizes Pre-Legislative Consultation meeting on 'Persons in
Destitution Model Bill- 2016.’ Retrieved from http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=151786.
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Almost half a century ago, the initial attempts for controlling and keeping a check on beggary
and vagrancy by means of laws were made in this country. Those were the Municipal Acts
which made pervasive and importunate begging and exposing ones’ diseased limbs for the
begging purposes as offences. The primary aim was to prevent public nuisance and
annoyance in urban areas. According to the Constitution of India, the subject of beggary is
related to in item 9 of List 11 of the seventh schedule. The Constitution further states that
implementing programs in relation to the eradication of beggary is within the jurisdiction of
the state governments. The States of Gujarat, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West
Bengal and the Union Territories of Delhi and Goa have enforced anti-beggary Acts in their
respective areas. All these Acts provide for the prevention of begging through the
employment, training, and direction of beggars and also for the punishment, trial, and custody
of beggars. Begging is a cognizable offence under these Acts and special police squads are
enabled to operate in the areas where the anti-beggary legislation is in force.

The police can anonymously round up beggars and produce them before the court. So as to
pass an order in accordance with the provisions of the Act, the court considers the report of
the probation officer with regard to the age, character, circumstances, and conditions in which
the accused was living, his health, etc., and if he is found to be a beggar, he is sent to an
institution for treatment, care and training. At present, there are seventy-six institutions for
beggars in the country with a total inmate population of 8,951 approximately.6 The very
instance of the police rounding up the beggars just because who they are is completely unjust
and arbitrary. If the Anti-Vagrancy laws continue to exist, further human rights violations
such as these will continue to occur, and the government has to take steps to neutralize the
effect of these laws for the overall benefit of the poorer sections of the society whose primary
source of livelihood is to beg and accumulate money by means of the same.

3. THE ERADICATION OF VAGRANCY CAN BECOME A REALITY

WITH THE SETTING UP OF BEGGARS’ HOMES, INSTEAD OF THE
ENACTMENT OF A LAW THAT SEEKS TO CRIMINALIZE
BEGGARY.

At present, there are seventy-six institutions for beggars in the country with a total inmate
population of 8,951 approximately. Rehabilitating entire families in shelter homes is a
significant issue because the problems of drug addiction and theft are rampant even in shelter
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homes for the homeless. Given the various number of aspects of the problem in the issue
being discussed, a special action force could immensely help in suggesting immediate reform
measures and identifying specific problems. Another problem that must be emphasized upon
is that of vocational training, which can further improve people's prospects of employability.
This eventually involves the risk of attracting even those people who are well-settled and not
poor, to the beggar homes and further exacerbate the ambiguity. There arises an immense
need to repeal punitive begging laws, and sources in the Delhi government had said that the
National Skill Development Commission has sanctioned 1,100 slots to train beggars in
baking and cookery, mobile repairing and retail sales. The training was going to start at Sewa
Kutir housing centre. "But if the building is no longer

3.1 ANTI-VAGRANCY LAW IN INDIA

Exclusive to the homeless, then the point of our efforts for a particular section of society will
be lost," the source had said.9 Ever since seventy years of Independence, the Bengal
Vagrancy Act still comtinues to provide for the detention of persons affected with the
contagious disease of leprosy. In states like Assam and Karnataka, begging acts exempt
mendicants who depend upon begging for alms in order to fulfil their religious obligations.
Repealing and nulling the validity of these archaic, draconian laws is a welcome beginning
step, but a nation-wide central law that acknowledges and accepts homelessness as a
complicated economic and social reality is a simultaneous need.

4. THE INTRODUCTION OF BETTER SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES

CAN BRING ABOUT THE CREATION OF AN ENVIRONMENT THAT
BETTER SUITS THE NEEDS OF THE POORER SECTION OF THE
SOCIETY.

The Government of odisha recently came up with the SAHAYA scheme, i.e., A Scheme for
Protection, Care, and Rehabilitation of Beggars. The Department dealing with Social Security
and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) of the Government of odisha, by
virtue of the scheme, had recognized that beggars are a valuable and important human
resource for the society at large and seeks to bring forth an environment which gives them an
access to equal opportunities, full participation in society, and most importantly, the
protection of their rights.10 The SSEPD Department, Government of odisha, as the part of an
integrated initiative for beggars promoted the new umbrella scheme “SAHAYA” for care,
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protection and rehabilitation of beggars to be brought about and achieved in a mission mode
with manifold and multiple well-set objectives. The Central Government can learn a lot from
the above stated example and undertake a program or a scheme that seeks to develop the
situation of the poor man in the following ways:  To care and protect the interests of the
children of beggars including the people affected with leprosy and encourage facilitating the
well-being of their daughters. To reform and strengthen the present machinery of
implementation and create multiple facilities for coverage of all the left-over uncovered areas
of the state for taking care and ensuring the complete coverage of beggars. Guidelines on
S.A.H.A.Y.A. To bring about an environment to ensure social justice, equal opportunities,
equity & overall empowerment of beggars. To promote group and individual initiatives by
beggars for self-employment, employment, and other socio-educational services. To
encourage participation and voluntary action of all the stake holders for ensuring the effective
application and implementation of the scheme. To create facilities for providing appropriate
rehabilitation services and to expand outreach activity programs for the rehabilitation of
beggars.

Although packaged as a progressive legislation, a close reading of the proposed Bill raises a
number of questions, which, if left unaddressed, will defeat the very purpose of introducing
such legislation in the first place. Under Section 5, ‘outreach and Mobilization Units,’
constituted by State governments at the district levels, shall conduct surveys to map areas and
identify ‘persons in destitution.’ The Section lays ‘special emphasis’ on areas such as bus
depots, railway stations, trains, and platforms. Since these are sites which observe a daily
transit of a number of poor migrants, it is here that most incidents of non-beggars being
hounded by police authorities take place. Additionally, since the criteria to identify ‘persons
in destitution’ includes ‘persons in begging,’ there are high chances that cases of
misidentification in these areas remain largely unaffected. There also seems to be a
contradiction in this provision. Whereas the Bill proposes that ‘persons in destitution’ found
in areas such as stations, trains and platform will not be punished but rehabilitated, Section
144 of the Railways Act 1989 punishes both beggars and unlicensed vendors/hawkers with
imprisonment up to one year or a fine up to 2,000 rupees, or both. In fact, as per the official
data on the Indian Railways website, the number of people convicted under section 144
during the year 2013 was 150384. The fine so realised amounted to an enormous Rs.
61645748.7
7
http://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/security/downloads/2014/RAILWAY_Act_UPto
_2013.pdf.
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Usha Ramanthan (2008: 33) describes a ‘good faith’ clause as “the element that is routinely
introduced into legislations to protect persons acting under the law from being prosecuted by
a presumption of good faith.”The present Bill does the same through Section 15, which
directs that “no suit, prosecution or legal proceedings shall lie against the State government
or any person acting under the direction of the State government in respect of anything which
is done in good faith or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or of any rules or orders
made under this Act.”

5. ANALYSIS

The issues of wide-scale vagrancy and beggary culminate due to various causes. It has always
been an age-old tradition of being charitable and distributing alms to beggars. People often
consider it a duty bearing religious sanctity to give alms to poor people. According to the
various legends in Indian mythology, one of the main causes of begging is due to the rapid
and sudden increase of population on land. A considerable portion of the people living in
rural areas who primarily relied on agriculture as their sole source of livelihood were driven
to beggary, given the absence of viable subsidiary industry. Another cause is that of
subdivision of holding due to the problems of large families and the traditional cultivation
methods. The main points of research in the present paper can be enumerated as follows:

1. Rights Violations: Laws that criminalize vagrancy and homelessness are unlawful

2. The eradication of vagrancy can become a reality with the setting up of Beggars’ Homes,
instead of the enactment of a law that seeks to criminalize beggary.

3. The introduction of better social security schemes can bring about the creation of an
environment that better suits the needs of the poorer section of the society.

6. JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS

6.1 BANDHUA MUKHTI MORCHA Vs. UNION OF INDIA8: CASE ANALYSIS

Introduction

As a result of a public interest litigation filed in the Apex Court, the State of Uttar Pradesh
was directed by the Supreme Court to abolish the use of child labor in the carpet industry and
to make certain policies or directives for benefit of children so that they can have access to
education and get certain health facilities.
8
AIR 1984 SC 802.
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Statues and provisions of law involved

1. Bonded labor systems Act, 1976

2. Mines Rules, 1955
3. Mines Vocational Training Rules, 1966
4. Constitution of India
5. Maternity Benefits Act, 1961

Brief facts–

The petitioner, an association committed to the reason of the arrival of reinforced workers
in the nation, tended to a letter to Hon’ble Bhagwati, J. asserting:

(1) that there were a large number of workers from various parts of the nation who were
working in some of the stone quarries arrange in area Faridabad, the State of Haryana
under “brutal and insufferable conditions;

(2) that a large number of them were reinforced workers;

(3) that the arrangements of the Constitution and different social welfare laws went to
help the said laborers were definitely not being actualized with respect to these laborers.

The candidate also referenced in the letter the names of the stone quarries and points of
interest of workers who were functioning as fortified workers and implored that a writ is
given for legitimate usage of the different provisions of the social welfare enactment, for
example, Mines Act, 1952 Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, Contract Labor (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970,
Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Minimum Wages Act, Workmen’s
Compensation Act, Payment of Wages Act, Employees State Protection Act, Maternity
Benefits Act and so forth material to these laborers working in the said stone quarries to
finish the wretchedness, suffering and defenselessness of these casualties of the cruelest
abuse. The Court treated the letter as a writ petition and designated a commission to ask
into the charges made by the petitioner.
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Issues Involved–

Regardless of whether Article 32 of the Constitution is pulled in to the moment case as no

major right of the candidates or the laborers alluded to in the request are encroached.

Can a letter tended to with this Court be treated as a writ appeal and without any checked
request this Court can be moved to practice its writ locale?

During a procedure under Article 32 of the Constitution, would this be able to Court be
engaged to select any commission or an exploring body to enquire into the claims made
and makes a report to this Court based on the inquiry to empower this Court to practice its
capacity and locale under Article 32 of the Constitution?

Arguments Advanced:

Petitioner’s contention –

 The entire environment in the supposed stone quarries was loaded with residue
and it was difficult for anyone to inhale;
 A portion of the laborers was not permitted to leave the stone quarries and was
giving constrained work;
 There was no facility of giving unadulterated water to drink and the workers were
constrained to drink messy water from a nullah;
 The workers were not having a legitimate safe house in any case, they were living
in jhuggies with stones heaped one upon the different as dividers and straw
covering the top which was excessively low to stand and which didn’t manage the
cost of any assurance against the sun;
 Also, downpour; a portion of the workers were suffering from constant illnesses;
(vi) no pay was being paid to workers who were harmed because of mishaps
emerging in the course of work;

There were no offices for medicinal treatment or tutoring.

Respondent’s contention –

The respondents contended:

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 Article 32 of the Constitution is not attracted to the instant case as no the central
right of the petitioner or the laborers alluded to in the appeal is encroached;
 A letter tended to by a gathering to this Court can’t be treated as a writ appeal;
 In a procedure under Article 32, this Court is not enabled to designate any
commission or an exploring body to enquire into the claims made in the writ
appeal;
 Reports made by such commissions are in view of on ex-parte explanations which
have not been tried by interrogation and hence they have no evidentiary worth;
and
 There may be constrained workers in the stone quarries and stone smashers in the
State of Haryana however they were not fortified workers inside the importance of
that articulation as utilized in the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1976.

Judgment–

In its judgment, the Court talked about the significance of securing children’s privileges or
rights to education, security, health and improvement of India as a democratic country. While
perceiving that child’s work couldn’t be nullified quickly because of monetary need, the
Court found that down to earth steps could be taken to secure and advance the rights of youth
in the destitution stricken and powerless populaces of Indian culture. on the side of its
decision, the Court alluded to different basic rights and order standards of the Indian
Constitution including, Article 21 (the right to life and individual freedom), Article 24
(denies work of children younger than 14 in plants, mines, or different dangerous ventures),
Article 39 (e) (disallows constraining residents into employments unsuited for their age or
quality), Article 39(f) (depicts the State’s obligations to shield youngsters from abuse and to
guarantee kids the chances and offices to create in a sound way), and Article 45 (commands
the State to give free obligatory training to all children beneath 14 years). The Court
additionally noticed India’s commitments under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child to give free essential education to all
kids in the nation, and to secure children against financial abuse. The measures requested to
nullify child labor work set out in a prior case, M.C. Mehta v. Province of Tamil Nadu and
ors.[ii] was referenced by the Court and fused in requests to the States of Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar. The requests included guiding the States to find a way to outline arrangements to
logically dispose of the labor of children beneath the age of 14; give obligatory instruction to
 P a g e | 16

all youngsters utilized in processing plants, mining, and different enterprises; guarantee that
the children get supplement rich nourishments; and regulate occasional health registration.

Obiter dicta–

Not necessarily the aggrieved party always files a petition but also any person with a
bonafide intention file a case in order to protect the rights of others and when it comes to the
public interest or for the welfare of the common people a mere letter can also be treated as a
writ petition.

Rationale behind the judgment

The State Government’s protest with regards to the viability of the writ request under Article
32 of the Constitution by the solicitors is indefensible. on the off chance that any of the
resident brings under the steady gaze of the Court an objection that countless laborers or
laborers are reinforced serfs or are being oppressed to exploitation by a couple of mine
renters or temporary workers or managers or are being precluded the advantages from
claiming social welfare laws, the State Government, which is, under our protected plan,
accused of the strategic achieving another financial request where there will be social and
monetary equity for everybody correspondence of status and open door for all, would respect
a request by the court, so that in the event that it is discovered that there are in truth fortified
workers or regardless of whether the laborers are not reinforced in the severe feeling of the
term as characterized in the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act 1976 yet they are made to
give forced labor or are relegated to an existence of absolute hardship and corruption, such a
circumstance can be fixed by the State Government. Regardless of whether the State
Government is on its own inquiry fulfilled that the laborers are not reinforced and are not
constrained to give constrained work and are living and working in better than average
conditions with all the essential necessities of life gave to them, the State Government ought
not to shy away from a request by the court when a protest is brought by a resident, yet it
ought to be on edge to fulfill the court and through the court, the individuals of the nation,
that it is releasing its established commitment decently and enough and the laborers are being
guaranteed social and financial equity.[iii]
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Conclusion–

This case alongside other PIL cases on the issue of child labor and scope of child labor
destruction battles, has been fruitful in bringing issues to light about the issue of child labor
and putting the issue conspicuously on the administration’s plan. Policymaking and law are
moving toward formal annulment of child labor and various activities, particularly in the
region of education, are being attempted towards annihilating gruesome child labor. one
impact has been that the involvement of child laborers in the carpet industry has been
diminished. Be that as it may, a huge number of children despite everything keep on being
abused in India and there is a dire requirement for more grounded and increasingly
compelling insurances for child rights.

6.2 Danial Lattifi vs. Union of India: Case Analysis

In the case of Danial Lattifi vs. Union of India, 9 the Supreme Court of India was faced with
the issue triple talaq and husband not maintaining wife and wives in some cases were being
destitute. The constitutional and legal validity of the Act has been challenged in the petitions.
The Supreme Court in Mohd. Ahmed v. Shah Bano Begum and ors. (1985) 2 S.G.G. 556
after referring to various text books in Muslim Law held that the divorced wife's right to
maintenance ceased on expiration of Iddat period but proceeded to observe that the general
proposition reflected in these statements did not deal with the special situation when the
divorced wife was unable to maintain herself. In such cases it was stated that it would be not
only be incorrect but unjust to extend the scope of the statements referred to in those text
books in which a divorced wife is unable to maintain herself and opined that that application
of their statements of law must be restricted to that class of cases in which there is no
possibility of vagrancy or destitution arising out of the indigence of the divorced wife. The
Court concluded that these Ayat leave no doubt that the Holy Quran imposes an obligation on
the Muslim husband to make provision for or to provide maintenance to the divorced wife
and that the contrary argument does less than justice to the teaching of the Holy Quran. There
was a big up-roar thereafter and the Parliament enacted the Act with the intention of making
the decision in Shah Bano's case ineffective. Various arguments were raised for and against
the validity of the Act. It was contended, inter alia, that the Act is discriminatory as the more
advantageous provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure in Sections 125 to 128 has been
excluded, that liability created to provide maintenance beyond the Iddat period is against the
muslim personal law and against religious tents. overruling the contentions of the Petitioners.
9
Danial Lattifi vs. Union of India, MANU/SC/1639/2001.
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The Court held that:

 A Muslim husband is liable to make reasonable and fair provision for the future of
the divorced wife which obviously includes her maintenance as well. Such a
reasonable and fair provision extending beyond the Iddat period must bemade by the
husband within the Iddat period in terms of Section 3(1)(a) of the Act Liability of
Muslim husband to hid divorced wife arising under Section 3(1)(a) of the Act to pay
maintenance is not confined to Iddat period.

 A divorced Muslim woman who has not remarried and who is not able to maintain
herself after Iddat period can proceed as provided under Section 4 of the Act against
her relatives who are liable to maintain her in proportion to the properties which they
inherit on her death according to Muslim law from such divorced woman including
her children and parents. If any of the relatives being unable to pay maintenance, the
Magistrate may direct the State Wakf Board established under the Act to pay such-
maintenance.
 A comparison of these provisions with Section 125 Code of Criminal Procedure will
make it clear that requirements provided in Section 125 and the purpose, object and
scope thereof being to prevent vagrancy by compelling those who can do so to
support those who are unable to support themselves and who have a normal and
legitimate claim to support is satisfied. If that is so, the argument of the Petitioners
that a different scheme being provided under the Act which is equally or more
beneficial on the interpretation placed by us from the one provided under the Code of
Criminal Procedure deprive them of their right loses its significance. The object and
scope of Section 125 Code of Criminal Procedure is to prevent vagrancy by
compelling those who are under an obligation support those who are unable to
support themselves and that object being fulfilled, we find it difficult to accept the
contention urged on behalf of the Petitioners.
 Even under the Act, the parties agreed that the provisions of Section 125 Code of
Criminal Procedure would still be attracted and even otherwise, the Magistrate has
been conferred with the power to make appropriate provision for maintenance and,
therefore, what would be earlier granted by a Magistrate under Section 125 Code of
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Criminal Procedure would not be granted under the very Act itself. This being the
position, the Act cannot be held to be unconstitutional.

7. Protection of Street Children in India

According to the UN ‘Street Children’ is:10any boy or girl for whom the has become his or
her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood and who are inadequately protected,
supervised or directed by responsible adults.

The Street Children (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2001 sought to define street children as “the
deprived with unknown parentage, abandoned and neglected children, including destitute
children of sex workers.”

The Indian Constitution under recognizes right to live with human dignity and recognizes
personal liberty to every person including children. Though couched in a negative language,
article 21 has become a source of many other rights. Right to life means not merely an animal
existence but a right to live a dignified life. The judiciary has interpreted Article in such a
manner that it has brought many other basic human rights within the ambit of Article 21 for
example right to livelihood, education etc. But street children live a life of neglect and lacks
basic amenities which are necessary for a dignified human life like nutritious food, shelter,
education etc. The Constitution recognizes the right to free and compulsory education for all
children who are aging between six to fourteen years. In 2009, the Compulsory Education
Act was enacted by the Indian Parliament which is to be implemented in the states by the
state governments. But the state governments at times have showed their inability to
implement this legislation due to lack of resources for creating basic infrastructure as
required under the Act. Lack of proper execution of this law and poverty prevalent among the
street children make them unable to get education. Article 15(3) is an enabling provision
which enables the state to make special provisions for women and children. The Constitution
provides that every human being has a right against human trafficking and forced labour.

7.1 The Street Children (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2001

In 2001, a new bill relating to street children was put on the floor of the Indian Parliament. In
its statement of object and reasons it was admitted that despite various policies, programs,
and legislations on the protection of children, the child remains the most exploited and
abused section of the society and recognizes the necessity of laying down by law, the basic
10
Lakshmi, G. Rao, “Street Children- The Problem, Causes and Approaches” 7(1) Journal of Institute of Human
Rights 84 (2004).
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rights of the children including street children, abandoned and neglected children. The bill
sought to define street children as “the deprived with unknown parentage, abandoned and
neglected children, including destitute children of sex workers.” The bill sought to enjoin
upon government to lay down a policy for street children, and establish Commission for
Street Children on the national level. It recognizes that the street children have rights to
proper means of living, due care, protection and security of life, basic education, training and
means for free and fair development of the personality, medical care and nutrition. It also
provides for the establishment of a Street Child Development Fund. The Bill has not yet been
passed till date.

8. CONCLUSION

The Constitution of India under Article 21 preserves the right to life of destitutes, there have
been made attempts to even bring in statutory remedies that are not tangential to the
protection of destitutes but directly address the issue. Some examples in this regard are the
The Destitution Rehabilitation and Protection Bill, 2016 and The Street Children Bill, 2001.
But neither of these bills have been passed and the courts by and large in light of the
constitutional principles have been rendering judgements in terms of decriminalizing begging
to issuing guidelines on preserving the sanctity of Right to Life enshrined under Article 21 of
the Constitution of India. Despite the laws in India which protect destitutues, the researcher
feels that there should be a law for the destitutes, which consolidates the relavant extracts out
of various laws for the destitutes and their protection.

WEBLIOGRAPHY

1.http://socialjustice.nic.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Model%20Bill%20%20(with
%20Screen%20Reader%20access)636057509796331695.pdf

2. RGICS POLICYWATCH, Volume : 6, Issue-5, A Critique of the Persons in Destitution

Model Bill, 2016

http://www.rgics.com/wp-content/uploads/policy-watch/PW-6.5-September-2017.pdf

3. Scconline

4. Manupatra
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