A blow against punitive constitutionalism (J&K HC verdict on Beggary Act is a positive)

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 A blow against punitive constitutionalism (J&K HC verdict on Beggary Act is a positive

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• Colonial relic: The British had criminalised and stigmatised entire populations that didn't fit into any standardised way of life. Laws like "Criminal Tribes Act" were enacted to paint indigenous people as criminals. Concentration camps were created for forced labour.
• Post 1947: Sadly, laws like "Beggary Law" (Bombay, 1958) continued with the same excesses. They criminalised itinerant, nomadic groups and the state didn't consider them "normal" citizens. The most vulnerable were put into certified institutions!
• J&K High Court strikes it down: The Court found the state's version of this Act a gross violation of human dignity and freedom.
• What our Beggary Laws say:

1. A broad definition of "Begging" is given – "having no visible means of subsistence and wandering about or remaining in public places, and existing by receiving alms".
2. The Acts criminalise the people, and not just the action (of begging). Their aim is not to protect the public peace, but to cleanse public spaces of people who look poor and destitute.
3. People can be arrested without warrant, and thrown into "begging homes" for many years.
4. Govt. claims it is acting against organised begging rackets, wants to maintain public order, and make good citizens out of beggars. .

• The HC's order: J. Gita Mittal said that –

1. It all started from England, where vagrants were considered a threat to society
2. India saw its first such law in 1920s, and entire communities were criminalised
3. Poverty happens when the society and State both fail to support an individual (rather than his own faults alone)
4. Begging is protected under Article 19(1)(a)'s freedom of speech guarantee ("peacefully communicating one's situation to another")
5. How can sending beggars to Homes turn them into good citizens?
6. How can anyone be stopped from wandering about in public places? ("public" places!)
7. Gujjars and Bakarwals are by nature itinerant but not beggars
8. Criminalising begging takes away Right to Life under Article 21, and destroys human dignity as well.

• Punitive constitutionalism: In recent years, a tendency has taken root where individual rights are considered worthy of being sacrificed to a national grand project. Example: Those with more than two children cannot participate in politics, or minimum educational qualifications needed, etc.
• Final word: Rights come to humans by virtue of being a human, and they need not have to earn it separately. By invisiblising a social problem through criminalisation, the Law errs in violating the constitution.
• Summary : The J&K High Court's striking down of the state's Beggary Laws makes a bigger point - human rights come to humans automatically without having to earn them.

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