India News | HC Issues Notice to MP Govt over 1973 Law on Begging

Indore, Mar 14 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh High Court's Indore bench on Monday sought a reply from the state government on a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of a nearly five-decade-old law banning begging.

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The law empowers police to arrest beggars without a court warrant.

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A division bench comprising Justices Vivek Rusia and Amarnath Kesharwani issued a notice to the state government, seeking its reply, while hearing the PIL (Public Interest Litigation) filed by a non-government organization, Matru Foundation.

According to the Madhya Pradesh Bhiksha Vritti Nivaran Adhiniyam (Madhya Pradesh Prevention of Begging Act), 1973, police are empowered to arrest, without a court warrant, any person found begging in the state.

This provision infringes upon fundamental rights of a person guaranteed in the Constitution, the petitioner's counsel, Amay Bajaj, told reporters here.

In the plea, the petitioner has sought that the law be termed as unconstitutional and all cases registered under the Act and currently pending in courts be annulled, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)