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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Sex workers must not be allowed to operate, Centre tells Supreme Court

Sex workers must not be allowed to operate, Centre tells Supreme Court

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published Published on Jul 13, 2012   modified Modified on Jul 13, 2012
-PTI

Court agrees to examine the whole issue at length
 
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to examine the Centre’s plea that sex workers should not be allowed to operate in the country under the cloak of working “with dignity” as suggested by a panel, since that would be contrary to the statute prohibiting the world’s oldest trade.

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor-General P. P. Malhotra told a Special Bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra that any such endorsement by the Court would go contrary to the vires of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act which bans prostitution in toto.

Mr. Malhotra urged the Court to delete the reference made by it in its order of July 19 last year on the issue relating to “creating conditions conducive for sex workers to work with dignity”.

He also wanted the Bench to remove the West Bengal-based NGO Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee from the panel constituted by the Court as the organisation was championing the cause of sex workers and had also filed a writ petition before the Calcutta High Court in support of prostitution.

On July 3, the Court while appointing a broadbased committee had formulated three questions for reference: Prevention of trafficking, rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave the sex work; and conditions conducive for sex workers who wish to continue working as sex workers with dignity.

The Centre’s move was, however, opposed by senior counsel Jayant Bhushan, acting as an amicuscuriae, and Anand Grover who submitted that the Act only prohibited brothel activities and punitive action against pimps. In other words, counsel contended that if a sex worker carries out the activities on her own volition, then it was not an illegal Act.

The Bench after hearing the arguments said it would examine the issue at length since it did not want to give an impression that the Court was giving its “stamp of approval” for an act that is purportedly illegal.

Earlier, the panel headed by another senior advocate, Pradeep Ghosh, submitted its seventh report recommending various measures for rehabilitation of sex workers.

On July 19 last year the Court while dealing with a case relating to the killing of a sex worker had constituted a committee of senior lawyers, NGOs and government officials to suggest measures to end the menace and rehabilitate sex workers. It held that “right to live with dignity” is a Constitutional right, and had directed the Centre, the States and Union Territories to carry out a comprehensive survey to determine the number of sex workers in the country who are willing for rehabilitation.

“We may reiterate that this exercise has been done by us because the word ‘life’ in Article 21 of the Constitution of India has been interpreted in several decisions of this Court to mean a right to ‘life with dignity’….. It is only if a sex worker is able to earn a livelihood through technical skills rather than by selling her body that she can live with dignity, and that is why we have requested all the States and the Union of India to submit schemes for giving technical training to these sex workers,” the Bench had said. 

The Hindu, 13 July, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article3633605.ece


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