HARSH MANDER & ANR Vs. UOI & ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "...A society that sees legislating inequality and homelessness into invisibility has unquestionably lost its way..."

(2.) For the purposes of effective adjudication of the issue, we may advert to the scheme of the enactment.

(3.) Section 2(1) (i) thereof defines "Begging". Section 4(1) allows the police to arrest the beggar without a warrant. Section 5 of the Act enables a summary enquiry by the court following which the person may be detained in a certified institution. Section 6 contemplates punishment for a person who had been previously detained in a Certified Institution under the act, upon his being found begging. The remaining provisions of Section 6 provide the quantum of detention or imprisonment, based on the repetition of convictions.