Delhi High Court: Begging not criminal offence

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ruled that begging is not a criminal offence and struck down laws penalizing it. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar struck down the provisions prosecuting begging under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act. The bench decriminalised begging and said that prosecution under the provisions of the Act was unconstitutional. However, the court granted liberty to the Delhi government to bring in alternative legislation to curb the racket of forced begging after undertaking an empirical examination on the sociological and economic aspect of the matter. The court was hearing two public interest litigations by Harsh Mandar and Karnika Sawhney to seek basic human and fundamental rights for beggars in the national capital and for decriminalising begging. The pleas also sought basic amenities such as proper food and medical facilities at all beggar homes in Delhi. Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever