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REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 135 OF 2010
Budhadev Karmaskar .. Appellant
-versus-
State of West Bengal .. Respondent
O R D E R
"Pinha tha daam-e-sakht qareeb aashiyaan ke
Udhne hi na paaye the ki giraftaar hum hue"
Mirza Ghalib
1. This exercise was initiated by us by our order dated
14th February 2011. By that order we dismissed the appeal
of the appellant, who was convicted for murdering a sex
worker in a red light area in Kolkata by battering her head
repeatedly against the wall and the floor of a room.
Having dismissed the appeal we suo motu converted the case
into a PIL by the same order in order to address the
problems of sex workers in the country.
2. In our order dated 14th February, 2011 we observed:
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"This is a case of brutal murder of a sex
worker. Sex workers are also human beings and no
one has a right to assault or murder them. A
person becomes a prostitute not because she
enjoys it but because of poverty. Society must
have sympathy towards the sex workers and must
not look down upon them. They are also entitled
to a life of dignity in view of Article 21 of the
Constitution.
In the novels and stories of the great
Bengali writer Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya,
many prostitutes have been shown to be women of
very high character, e.g., Rajyalakshmi in
'Shrikant', Chandramukhi in 'Devdas', etc.
The plight of prostitutes has been depicted
by the great Urdu poet Sahil Ludhianvi in his
poem 'Chakle' which has been sung in the Hindi
film Pyasa "Jineh Naaz Hai Hind Par wo kahan
hain" (simplified version of the verse 'Sana
Khwan-e-taqdees-e-Mashrik Kahan Hain').
We may also refer to the character Sonya
Marmelodova in Dostoyevsky's famous novel 'Crime
and Punishment'. Sonya is depicted as a girl who
sacrifices her body to earn some bread for her
impoverished family.
Reference may also be made to Amrapali, who
was a contemporary of Lord Buddha".
3. We further observed :
"Although we have dismissed this Appeal, we
strongly feel that the Central and the State
Governments through Social Welfare Boards should
prepare schemes for rehabilitation all over the
country for physically and sexually abused women
commonly known as prostitutes as we are of the
view that the prostitutes also have a right to
live with dignity under Article 21 of the
Constitution of India since they are also human
beings and their problems also need to be
addressed.
As already observed by us, a woman is
compelled to indulge in prostitution not for
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pleasure but because of abject poverty. If such a
woman is granted opportunity to avail some
technical or vocational training, she would be
able to earn her livelihood by such vocational
training and skill instead of by selling her
body.
Hence, we direct the Central and the
State Governments to prepare schemes for giving
technical/vocational training to sex workers and
sexually abused women in all cities in India.
The schemes should mention in detail who will
give the technical/vocational training and in
what manner they can be rehabilitated and settled
by offering them employment. For instance, if a
technical training is for some craft like sewing
garments, etc. then some arrangements should also
be made for providing a market for such garments,
otherwise they will remain unsold and unused, and
consequently the woman will not be able to feed
herself".
4. Subsequently by another order we constituted a panel
headed by Mr. Pradip Ghosh, Senior Advocate as the Chairman
and including Mr. Jayant Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Durbar
Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), Usha Multipurpose
Cooperative Society (UMCS) and Roshni through its founder
Ms. Saima Hasan. We also directed the Central Government
to provide some accommodation as well as infrastructure,
staff etc. to the panel, and grant it adequate funds.
5. Today, an interim report has been submitted to us by
the panel stating that the panel held its first meeting on
25th July, 2011 at 04.30 P.M. and discussed various aspects
of the problems relating to sex workers. The report shall
be taken on record.
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6. We have perused the report. It shows that the panel
has set about the task assigned to it in right earnest.
7. The report has prayed for directions to the Central
Government to make necessary funds available for holding
workshops/meetings to be attended by experts, resource
persons, organizations etc. who may be invited by the panel
for this purpose and to arrange their travel by air/rail
to and fro Delhi, and also to make suitable arrangements
for their accommodation etc. Funds may also be made
available to the panel so that the members can educate the
concerned people and also to visit other three metropolitan
cities i.e. Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai and also other
cities/towns. Funds are also required for advertisements
in newspapers and T.V. inviting responses from social
organizations and interested individuals who may send their
suggestions/comments and also for the purpose of printing
and publications, as may be necessary.
8. We direct the Central and the State Governments to
provide funds as prayed for by the panel in its report
after discussions with the Chairman of the panel Mr. Pradip
Ghosh, Senior Advocate and other members.
9. In paragraph 10 of the report it has been stated that
the Central Government has assured that they will arrange a
place for the meetings of the Panel with necessary
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infrastructure, computer, staff etc. The Central
Government should also look around for a permanent office
accommodation for the panel as that will be necessary
sooner or later for the proper functioning of the Panel.
10. We have noted that some of the members of the panel
are from Kolkata and Delhi, but there is no representation
from Mumbai and Chennai. Since we had directed that we
shall first take up the problems of sex workers in the four
metropolitan cities, i.e. Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and
Chennai, we suggest to the Chairman of the panel to co-opt
some suitable NGOs/social activists from Mumbai and
Chennai also in this connection.
11. We again reiterate that this exercise is because we
are of the opinion that sex workers are also human beings
and hence they are entitled to a life of dignity. It has
been well-settled by a series of decisions of this Court
that the word `life' in Article 21 of the Constitution
means a life of dignity and not just an animal life. We
are of the opinion that sex workers obviously cannot lead
a life of dignity as long as they remain sex workers.
12. Sex among human beings is different from sex among
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animals. Sex in humans has a cultural aspect to it also,
and is not just a physical act. A sex worker who has to
surrender her body to a man for money obviously is not
leading a life of dignity. Ordinarily, no woman will
willingly surrender her body to a man unless she loves and
respects him. A sex worker is obviously not surrendering
her body to a man because she loves and respect him, but
just for sheer survival. As Nancy says in Charles Dicken's
novel `Oliver Twist', "you adapt or you die".
13. Apart from that, sex workers are always in danger of
getting sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and they are
often abused and beaten by the proprietors of the brothel
and others who give them a pittance out of her earnings.
A woman becomes a sex worker not because she enjoys it but
due to abject poverty. One estimate suggests that there
are 3 million sex workers in India, many even from Nepal,
Bangaldesh, and even the former Soviet Union. This is due
to massive poverty in the country, and abroad.
14. Our effort in this exercise is to educate the public
and inform them that sex workers are not bad persons, but
they are unfortunate girls who have been forced to go into
this flesh trade due to terrible poverty. Hence society
should not look down upon the sex workers but should have
sympathy with them. In fact, in the novels of the great
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Bengali writer Sharat Chandra Chattopadhayay it has been
shown that many of the sex workers were women of very high
character, e.g. Rajyalakshmi, Chandramukhi, etc. and the
same has been shown in the novels of many European writers.
The Russian writer Dostoyevsky's novel `Crime & Punishment'
has shown Sonia Marmeladova as a woman of high character
who became a sex worker to feed her starving family.
Similarly, in Charles Dicken's novel `Oliver Twist', the
sex worker Nancy is shown to be a girl of high character
who sacrifices her life to save Oliver. In Victor Hugo's
famous novel `Les Miserables', Fantine sacrifices her hair
and teeth to provide for her daughter Cosette. Martha in
`David Copperfield' is also depicted as a woman of noble
heart.
15. We are of the opinion that if sex workers are given
proper technical training they will be able to come out of
sex work and instead earn their livelihood through their
technical skills instead of by selling their bodies. That
will enable them to live a life of dignity.
16. An impleadment application praying for impleadment in
this case has been filed. We are of the opinion that
instead of applying for impleadment in this case, the
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applicant should approach the Panel constituted by us and
give whatever assistance the applicant wishes to give to
the Panel. With these observations, the impleadment
application is disposed of.
17. Learned counsel appearing for the State of Uttarakhand
has stated that he will file a comprehensive affidavit on
behalf of the State within two weeks. He may do so.
18. We may mention here that we are not satisfied with the
affidavits already filed by the State Governments before
us. Their contents are vague and too general. We had
expected the State Governments to come forward with
specific schemes for giving technical training to sex
workers but that has not been done. Hence, we direct that
the Secretaries, Social Welfare Departments of the State
Governments and the Central Government to meet the Panel
constituted by us whenever the Chairman of the Panel so
desires so as to discuss how proper schemes in the spirit
of our orders can be prepared.
19. We are of the opinion that the States should not only
come out with schemes indicating therein rehabilitation of
the sex workers but they should also demonstrate their
commitment to the cause by coming out with some concrete
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results, at least in phases. So by the next date we expect
the State counsels to come out with some effective feedback
whether at least a few sex workers have been offered any
alternative employment, in case they were willing for
rehabilitation. We also leave it to the Chairman of the
Panel constituted by us to come out with some suggestions
in what way the sex workers through the State Governments
and the metro cities can come out with effective results in
this regard and by way of illustration at least they must
come out with report of rehabilitation of at least some of
the sex workers in each of the States. We make it clear
that any rehabilitation of the sex workers will not be
coercive in any manner and it shall be voluntary on the
part of the sex workers.
20. The Chairman of the Panel with the assistance of the
NGOs can provide a list by the next date at least of those
sex workers who are living under dire circumstances and are
willing for rehabilitation. We are informed that some of
the NGOs have a list of figures and localities of such sex
workers who are immediately willing for rehabilitation and
want to get out of the flesh trade.
21. We are fully conscious of the fact that simply by our
orders the sex workers in our country will not be
rehabilitated immediately. It will take a long time, but
we have to work patiently in this direction. What we have
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done in this case is to present the situation of sex
workers in the country in the correct light, so as to
educate the public. It is ultimately the people of the
country, particularly the young people, who by their
idealism and patriotism can solve the massive problems of
sex workers. We, therefore, particularly appeal to the
youth of the country to contact the members of the panel
and to offer their services in a manner which the panel may
require so that the sex workers can be uplifted from their
present degraded condition. They may contact the panel at
the email address: panelonsexworkers@gmail.com.
22. List the case again before this Bench on 24.08.2011 at
10.30 a.m. by which date the Panel appointed by us should
submit another report of the progress made.
........................J.
(MARKANDEY KATJU)
NEW DELHI; ........................J.
AUGUST 02, 2011 (GYAN SUDHA MISRA)
