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Begging is treated as antithesis to the social policy and it is considered as a social evil too. Undoubtedly, number of beggars of a country shows that country’s development proportionately. Begging is considered as criminal act in various countries. If we talk about India then it came to know that legislation has been passed which criminalises begging. These laws are made for prevention of an act of begging. But the question arises whether these laws are accurate and providing social justice and welfare to people? Whether begging is a criminalizing act or victimizing act? This paper throws light on the leading judgement of Delhi High Court which has been pronounced recently, this judgment interpreted the constitutionality of anti begging laws. In this article, an attempt is made to discuss on the anti-begging laws and judicial pronouncements in India.

1. To assess the danger of begging and its socio-legal implications; 2. To research the barriers that prohibit the government from giving begging people a dignified existence; 3. To analyse various laws now in effect in India; 4. To offer some advice and corrective actions to manage the reduce the danger of begging and provide begging a dignified existence.

A problem that hasn't received much attention thus far is begging. It is the most unexplored area in especially for ethnographic research. Beggary has been examined in industrialised nations in relation to the issues and sociology surrounding homeless males. In terms of emerging nations, the facts that are currently available on this subject mostly mirror Indian realities. However, not even in India has the topic been well studied. The book "The Beggar Problem in India," compiled by Kumarappa (1945), is the first book on Indian conditions that is currently available. It is primarily focused on Bombay's livability issues and what causes beggarly conditions there. Delhi and Madras both started and finished similar projects. Additionally, a survey among beggars in Kerala was done by the Aligarh Muslim University. Similar attitudes were found in a poll conducted by the Social Development Centre of Mumbai in 2004. Most beggars view it as a lucrative and tenable vocation. Of the 5,000 or so beggars that were observed in the capital's streets, four were post-graduates who supplemented their monthly incomes by begging on the weekends, along with six graduates and seven ninety-six people who had just completed their secondary education. According to an Action Aid estimate from 2004 there are approximately 60,000 beggars in Delhi, over 300,000 in Mumbai, close to 75,000 in Kolkata, according to the Beggar Research Institute, and 56,000 in Bangalore, according to police data. According to a 2007 study by Dr. Yogesh Thakker that was published in the International Journal of Psychological Rehabilitation, the majority of beggars had a history of addiction, psychiatric illness in the family, and poor treatment by family members. 10 Rafiuddin (2008)'s study on beggars in Hyderabad found that there are 730,000 beggars in India who earn 1.8 billion in annual alms, but even this enormous sum is unable to better their situation because charity and aid are dispersed and disorganised. In general, we find little information regarding the issue of begging in the literature. To this end, I have constructed this section from a thorough scan of the available literature, which has a direct oran indirect relevance to the issue under consideration.

Legislation and Anti Begging Laws in India

In India, though there is no Anti Begging Act for whole India as yet, but it cannot be said that there is no legal provision for preventing public begging.

In order to control the beggary many states in India have passed laws making beggary as illegal. Some of the important Acts are: The Hyderabad Prevention of Beggary Act, 1941, The Bengal Vagrancy Act, 1945, The Mysore Prevention of Beggary Act, 1945, The Bombay Prevention of Beggary Act, 1945, The Madras Prevention of Beggary Act, 1945. The Cochin Vagrancy Act, 1945, The Travancore Prohibition of Begging Act, 1945, The Bhopal Prevention of Beggary Act, 1947, The Bihar Prevention of Beggary Act, 1952. The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959.[1] Begging is criminalized in various countries of the world and many states in India too passed such legislations. Recently, the central Government has also brought ‘The Prevention of Begging Bill; 2010’.The object of the law is to undermine the act of begging as some organized gang exploiting children and forced them to begging. Some people kidnap children and force them to go for begging and collect huge amount of money. Some organizations opposed to the anti-begging laws.[2]

The Act[3] defines a “beggar” as anyone “having no visible means of subsistence, and wandering about or remaining in any public place in such condition or manner, as makes it likely that the person doing so exists by soliciting or receiving alms”. “Begging” under the Act includes “soliciting or receiving alms in a public place, whether or not under any pretence of singing, dancing, fortune-telling, performing or offering any article for sale”.

Neither the Indian Penal Code nor the Act explain what is meant by “soliciting alms” or what constitutes a “public place” –  leading to ambiguity, inconsistency and abuse in the practical implementation of the law. It is particularly challenging to understand the goals of the law due to the lack of distinction between violent and non-forceful kinds of begging.

Therefore, beggary still continues as an institution. As a matter of fact,  it became a social problem in the wake of social institutions started disintegrating due to  economic disruption and natural calamities like floods, famines, epidemics, earthquakes,  etc. at the same time, scientific developments have produced many fundamental changes and provided new ways of living. This trend has led to a large scale migration of people from the congenial rural areas to unfamiliar and socially unhealthy urban slums. The concomitant result of this trend is a spurt in the number of beggars. In the absence of any means of livelihood, people take to begging due to sheer destitution, while, others resort to it as an easy means of livelihood (Bhattacharyya, 2003).

Judicial Response on Constitutionality Oof Anti Begging Laws

Indian constitutional courts have seldom approached beggary laws from the prism of fundamental rights; on the contrary, courts have, for long, castigated beggars for totally unscrupulous reasons. Since the enactment of Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 and other Anti Begging Laws, a question of rights and criminality of beggars have been discussed before courts so many times. Different High Courts interpreted ‘beggars’ in different manner. On one side in a case[4] Supreme Court have called pavement dwellers a “source of public nuisance”; and in Lawyers’ Cooperative Group Housing Society vs Union of India[5] branded ‘jhuggi’ dwellers as “trespassers on public land”; in other case[6] also court compared homeless people with “pickpocket”.[7] This interpretation shows that the Supreme Court or high court dealt with the poor people strictly. Although the rights of beggars have not been discussed directly by courts but it was connected to needy people indirectly. Before 2018 the Supreme Court or various high courts failed to determine the constitutional parameters of Anti Begging Laws in India.

In Harsh Mander & Others V. Union of India[8] the question of constitutionality of Anti Begging Laws has been discussed by Delhi High Court in August 2018. The HC bench said that the penal provisions of begging in the law were unconstitutional and deserved to be struck down. The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act is unconstitutional. The Court stated that constitutional framework promises every person the right to live with dignity so the State cannot criminalize begging in such situation. The social contract between the citizen and the State is a contract by which in exchange for the citizen ceding her autonomy partially, the State promises her security over her person and a life with dignity.

Recently in response to a petition asking for the Covid-19 vaccine and the rehabilitation of beggars, the Supreme Court (SC) declined to outlaw begging and sent notices to the federal government and the Delhi government, asking for their reply within two weeks. The SC bench noted that it is a socio-economic issue and that people are obliged to beg in order to make ends meet because there are no opportunities for job or education. The court's observations are consistent with those of earlier judges. A regulation that made begging in the Capital illegal was overturned by the Delhi High Court in 2018 on the grounds that it "violates the fundamental rights of some of the most disadvantaged people.[9]

In Sushila KanwarPoonam Kunwar and others v. State of Gujarat and Others[10],the court held that beggars cannot claim a fundamental right to beg, in face of the provisions of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959. The court further held that, Begging cannot be lifted to the level of profession. There can be no doubt that a person who is forced by circumstances to beg has to be sympathised for his plight. However, to recognize begging as a fundamental right would amount to recognising an illegality and might carry with it other serious evils that may harm the society.

Delhi High Court referred case of Ram Lakhan v. State[11]. In this case, court has examined begging from a different perspective and in very intelligibly words that:

“A beggar solicits alms by words spoken or actions expressed. And, it would be instructive to remember that Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India guarantees to all citizens the right to “freedom of speech and expression”. Would “begging”, therefore, not be covered by this guarantee? Just as an advertisement of a product would be within the perimeter of this valuable fundamental right, begging, too, could fall within it. After all, begging involves the beggar displaying his miserable plight by words or actions and requesting for alms by words (spoken or written) or actions. Does the starving man not have a fundamental right to inform a more fortunate soul that he is starving and request for food? And, if he were to do so, would he not be liable under the said Act for being declared as a ‘beggar’ and consequently being deprived of his liberty by being sent for detention at a certified institution? Does this not mean that the said Act leads to deprivation of liberty on the basis of a law which runs counter to the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression? Does this, therefore, not mean that even the fundamental right of protection of life and personal liberty, which is enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution, is also violated?”

In most nations around the world, beggary is an increasing phenomena, and the issue has grown significantly. Although it is as old as humanity, the notion of it as a social issue is relatively new. Begging undermines the value of human dignity and misplaces the public's sense of decency. Since there are beggars everywhere and they are a nuisance to the general public, begging is actually one of the social ills that affects everyone in today's society the most. Beggary has its roots in religious mendicancy, but it also has its own socio-economic repercussions that have elevated it to a significant social issue in the twenty-first century. The Anti Begging Laws were enacted by States and it was appreciable task of legislation. Some lacunas of such Acts has been presented before judiciary so many times since the Act has been enforced but the question of constitutionality remains untouched since long time. Recently, the question of constitutionality of Anti Begging Law arisen before Delhi High Court. The judgment given by Delhi High Court is landmark because in decriminalising begging, the court has vindicated constitutional conscience and validated the idea that poverty is a human rights issue, and the denial of the right to life, livelihood and dignity to the poor is a patent violation of fundamental rights that cannot and should not be tolerated in a country governed by rule of law. The government has the mandate to provide social security for everyone, to ensure that all citizens have basic facilities, and the presence of beggars is evidence that the state has not managed to provide these to all its citizen. In this situation, the Delhi high court’s judgment reinforces the values of inclusiveness and tolerance in Indian society through its references to the principles of equality, liberty and dignity. It also reiterates the importance of judicial activism and the fact that courts, constituted as the ultimate interpreter of the constitution, have wide powers to promote dignitary values deeply rooted in our libertarian democracy. The presence of beggars is proof that the state has not been able to give these to all of its inhabitants, which is something we need to keep in mind because the government is supposed to ensure that everyone has access to social security and basic amenities. It is shown that beggarly has a variety of root causes and consequences. The forces that promote begging, however, include religious, cultural, and economic, with the former two acting as pull factors and the latter as a push component. In addition, natural disasters and biological catastrophes have a significant impact. The current study also shows that a significant portion of the population is forced to become vagrants and beggars, both of whom are inevitable witnesses to the burden of poverty, due to an underdeveloped state of the economy with poor employment possibilities.

1. Dr. Basu Das Durga (2011), Constitutional Law of India, Lexis Nexis Butterworths Wadhwa, Haryana. 2. Chakraborty C. Rehabilitation of beggers in India - a jural analysis with special reference to Indian constitution. International Journal of Research and Review. 2019; 6(1):67-72. 3. Chopra J. K., Social Justice (2015), Unique Publishers (I) Pvt. Ltd. 4. Dr. Jaswal, Paramjit S & Dr. Tajwal, Nishtha (2010), Human Rights and the Law, APH Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. 5. Dr. Pandey, J. N. (2015) Constitutional Law of India, Central Law Agency, Allahabad. 6. Jain MP. (2016), Indian Constitutional Law, Lexis Nexis, Haryana.

1. Asuina Kartika, ―Stastical Survey 35 SD 44 (1994).
2. Weiss, 2007, pp. 19-21
3. Rajendar Kumar Sharma, Urban Sociology 248 (Atlantic Publishers & Distributers, New Delhi, 2004).
4. Mohammed Siddique, “Rs 180 crore- that is the annual earning of beggars in India”, available at: http://wwwRs180crore-
thatistheannualearningofbeggarsinIndia.html.com, (Visited on 9, June 2022).
5. http://www.lawjournals.org/download/143/3-3-51-711.pdf
6. http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Industries-envirnresettlement/2004/criminalise-poverty.htm, Accessed on 16 June 2022.
7. The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959.
8. Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation, 1986 AIR 180.
9. CWP No. 267 of 1993 of Delhi High Court
10. Almitra Patel v. U.O.I, (1998) 2 SCC 416.
11. https://thewire.in/law/delhi-high-court-begging-decriminalisation, Accessed on 15 Dec 2018.
12. W.P.(C) 10498/2009 & CM APPL. 1837/2010, decided on 08 Aug, 2018.
13. https://www.hindustantimes.com/editorials/the-supreme-court-is-right-on-begging-101627471711972.html last visited on 08 July, 2022.
14. AIR 2000 Gujarat 194 [Internet Source : https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1448413/]
15. (2007) 137 DLT 173 [Internet Source : https://indiankanoon.org/doc/434096/]