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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)