Budhadev Karmaskar vs State of West Bengal

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2022 Supreme(SC) 1983

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
L. Nageswara Rao, B.R. Gavai, JJ.
Budhadev Karmaskar - Appellant
Vs.
The State Of West Bengal & Ors. - Respondent
Criminal Appeal No(s). 135 Of 2010
Decided On : 28-02-2022

Advocates Appeared:
Amicus Curiae : Mr. Jayant Bhushan, Sr. Adv Mr. Ketan Paul, Adv Mr. Tushar Bhushan, Adv Mr. Amartya Bhushan, Adv
Amicus Curiae : Mr. Pijush K. Roy, Adv Ms. Kakali Roy, Adv Mr. Abhishek Kaushik, Adv
Applicant(s)/DMSC : Mr Anand Grover, Sr Adv Ms Tripti Tandon, Adv Ms Savita Singh, AOR Mr Ashok Kumar Singh, Adv Mr. D. Mahesh Babu, AOR
HC of Karnataka : Mr. K.M.Nataraj, ASG Mr. Raghavendra S. Srivasta, Adv. Mr. Venkitasubramoniam T.R., Adv. Mr. Likhi Chand Bonsle, Adv. Ms. Komal Mundhra, Adv. Mr. Jayant K.Sud, ASG Mohd. Akhil, Adv Mr. Sanjay Kr.Tyagi, Adv Mr. Sunita Sharma, Adv Mr. O.P.Shukla, Adv Mr. Adit Khorana, Adv. Mr. B.K. Satija, Adv. Mr. Vikas Bansal, Adv. Mr. Digvijay Dam, Adv. Ms. Shakshi Kakkar, Adv. Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. B. V. Balaram Das, AOR Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav,AOR
UIDAI : Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Adv. Mr. Karthik Tayur, Adv UT of Lakshyadeep Mr. Jayant K. Sud, ASG Ms. Priyadarshni Priya, Adv. Mr. Apoorva Kurup, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR
UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu : Mr. Jayant K. Sud, ASG Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Ms. Sanskriti Pathak, AOR Mr. Anil Hooda, Adv. Ms. Saswat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Mr. Jayant K. Sud, Ld. ASG Mr. Anil Hooda Adv. Mr. Shashawat Parihar Adv. Mr Harish Pandey Adv. Ms. Sanskriti Pathak Adv. Mr. Jitender Hooda Adv. Mr. Shafik Ahmed Adv. Mr. Aditya Kaushik Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Adv. Mr. Tarun Mohan, Adv. Mr. D. S. Mehra AOR Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR Mr. Anil K. Jha, AOR Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR Ms. A. Subhashini, AOR Mr. Anil Shrivastav, AOR
State of W.B. : Mr. Raghent Basant, Adv. Mr. Suhaan Mukerji, Adv Mr. Nikhil Parikshith, Adv Mr. Vishal Prasad, Adv Mr. Abhishek Manchanda, Adv Mr. Sayandeep Pahari, Adv. Mr. Tanmay Sinha, Adv M/S. Plr Chambers And Co., AOR Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR Ms. Aparna Bhat, AOR Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, AOR Mr. M. T. George, AOR Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR Mrs. Swarupama Chaturvedi, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR Mr. Jogy Scaria, AOR
State of Assam : Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR Mr. Ankit Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Ragini Pandey, Adv.
State of Punjab : Ms. Jaspreet Gogia, AOR Ms. Mandakini Singh, Adv Mr. Karanvir Gogia, Adv. Ms. Shivangi Singhal, Adv Ms. Ashima Mandla, Adv
State of Uttarakhand : Mr. Saurabh Trivedi, AOR Mr. Ashutosh Sharma, Adv. Mr. Tanmaya Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Jatinder Kumar Bhatia, AOR Mr. Yogesh Kanna,AOR. M/S.Corporate Law Group, AOR Dr. Joseph Aristotle S., AoR. Mr. V. G. Pragasam, AOR Mr. Anuvrat Sharma, AOR Mr. Sunil Fernandes, AOR Ms. G. Indira, AOR
UT of Puducherry : Mr. Aravindh.S., AOR Mr. C.Rubavathi, Adv
St. of Nagaland : Mrs. K. Enatoli Sema, Adv, Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv
GNCTD : Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR
State of W.B. : Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv Mr. Umang Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta, AOR
State of Rajasthan : Dr. Manish Singhvi, Sr.Adv. Mr. Arpit Prakash, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, AOR
State of Telengana : Mr. S.Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR Ms. Sweena Nair, Adv. Mr. P. Mohith Rao, Adv Mr. Irshad Ahmad, AOR Mr. Rohit Kumar Singh, AOR Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, AOR Ms. Niranjana Singh, AOR
State of Bihar : Mr. Abhinav Mukerji, AOR Mrs. Bihu Sharma, Adv. Ms. Pratishtha Vij, Adv. Mr. Akshay C. Shrivastava, Adv. Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Abhay Pratap Singh, AOR Mr. P. V. Dinesh, AOR Ms. Aswathi M.K., AOR
State of Karnataka : Mr. Shubhanshu Padhi, Adv. Mr. Ashish Yadav, Adv. Mr. Rakshit Jain, Adv Mr. Vishal Banshal, Adv
State of Kerala : Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR Mr. Abdullah Naseeh, Adv Ms. Meena K.P, Adv
State of Gujarat : Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR
State of Manipur : Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Mr. Tanmaya Agarwal, AOR Mr. Wrick Chatterjee, Adv Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. Ashish Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, AOR Mr. Garvesh Kabra, AOR Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, AOR Ms. Liz Mathew, AOR Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR
State of Mizoram : Mr. Siddhesh Kotwal, Adv. Ms. Ana Upadhyay, Adv. Ms.Manya Hasija,Adv Mr. Akash Singh, Adv Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
State of H.P. : Mr. Vikas Mahajan, Sr. Adv./AAG Mr. Vidit Anand, Adv. Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Arun Singh, Adv. Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR. Mr. Parijat Som, Adv.
State of Sikkim : Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, Adv. Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Nishant Verma, Adv Mr. Rajiv Kumar Sinha, Adv Mr. Simanta Kumar, Adv Mr. Sunil Saraogi, Adv. Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR
U.T. of J&K : Ms. Taruna Ardhendumauli Prasad, AOR Ms. Deepika Gupta, Adv Mr. Satish Pandey, AOR
State of Tripura : Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR. Mr. Kabir Shankar Bose, Adv. MR. ISHAAN BORTHAKUR, ADV.
State Of Meghalaya : Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR, Mr. Kynpham V. Kharlyngdoh, Adv. Mr. Daniel Lyngdoh, Adv. Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv.
St.of Andhra Pradesh : Mr. Mahfooz A. Nazki, AOR Mr. Polanki Gowtham, Adv Mr. Shaik Mohamad Haneef, Adv Mr. T. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Adv Mr. K.V.Girish Chowdary, Adv Ms. Rajeswari Mukherjee, Adv
State of Haryana : Dr. Monika Gusain, AOR Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR Mr. Bhanwar Jadon, Adv Ms. Adira A Nair, Adv Ms. Babita Mishra, Adv
UT of Chandigarh : Mr. Manpreet S. Doabia, Adv Mrs. Kiran Bhardwaj, AOR
St of Chattisgarh :Mr. S.C. Verma, Sr. Adv./Advocate General Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR. Mr. Anvit Seemansh, Adv.
State of Maharashtra : Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR. Mr. Rahul Chitnis, Adv. Mr. Aaditya A. Pande, Adv. Mr. Geo Joseph, Adv. Ms. Shwetal Shepal, Adv
St of M.P. : Mr.Veer Vikrant Singh, Dy. AG Mr. Abhinav Shrivastava, Adv Mr. Sunny Choudhary (AOR)
UT of A&N Islands : Mr. Ankur S. Kulkarni, AOR Mr. Susheel Joseph Cyriac, Adv Ms. Uditha Chakravarthy, Adv
State of Odisha : Dr. Anindita Pujari, AOR Mr. Siddhartha Srivastava, Adv Mr. Azad Bansala, Adv Ms. Prakriti Rastogi, Adv Ms. Kavita Bharadwaj, Adv

Headnote:(A) The Constitution of India - Articles 14, 21, and 39(a) - Directions for issuance of ration cards and voter ID cards to sex workers - The Court mandated identification of sex workers not solely based on NACO lists but also considering Community Based Organisations, ensuring no insistence on proof of identity for issuance of cards. (Paras 1, 3, 9)

(B) Public Welfare - Court emphasized the importance of providing social welfare benefits, including ration and voter ID cards to marginalized groups like sex workers, thus recognizing their rights under Articles 14 and 21.

Findings of Court:
The Court noted partial compliance of previous orders by the State, directing a fresh exercise for comprehensive identification and timely issuance of ration cards.

Issues: The key issues included the adequacy of the identification process for sex workers and ensuring broader community involvement.

Ratio Decidendi: The court asserted the need for an inclusive identification process emphasizing that social welfare measures must not be contingent on rigid proof of identity requirements.

Result: Directions issued to complete the identification and issuance processes within four weeks.

Table of Content
1. issuance of ration cards for sex workers. (Para 1)
2. challenges in identification and provision of benefits for sex workers. (Para 2 , 5 , 6)
3. court's direction for community involvement in identification. (Para 3 , 8 , 9)
4. order for continued support and distribution of ration. (Para 4 , 10 , 11)

ORDER :

1. On 10.01.2022, we had directed the State Governments/Union Territories to complete the process of issuance of ration cards/voter cards to all sex workers within a period of two weeks. It was mentioned in the said order that the basis of identification of sex workers should not be confined to the list that had been prepared by the NACO. The State Governments should take into account the list submitted by Community Based Organisations which required to be verified by the concerned District Legal Service Authority/State AIDS Control Society. The competent authorities were directed to issue rations cards after verification of such lists. Barring a few States, the State Governments/Union Territories have submitted their status reports.

State of West Bengal(/u)

2. Mr. Pijush K. Roy, learned Amicus Curiae, submitted that the direction issued by this Court on 10.01.2022 has not been complied with by the State, as the identification of sex workers has not been done properly. The ration cards, voter ID cards and Aadhar cards have not been issued even to those sex workers who have been identified by the concerned authorities in the State. Mr. Raghent Basant, learned counsel appearing for the State of West Bengal, submitted that guidelines were issued for issuance of Digital Ration Cards(DRC)/Food Coupons to sex workers and transgender persons in August, 2020. As on 11.02.2022, 6227 sex workers were identified in the State. 3784 sex workers have been provided ration cards. Such of those sex workers, who do not have ration cards, have been given Khadyasathi Food Coupons. According to the scheme of the State Government, the coupon holders are entitled to 5 Kgs. of food grains without any payment till 30.06.2022. Mr. Basant submitted that the process for issuance of ration cards for all sex workers who have been identified will be completed soon.

3. Looking at the sex workers identified by the other States, we are sceptical about the number of identified sex workers in the State. Though Mr. Basant submitted that the basis for identification is the list submitted by NACO. We direct the concerned authorities in the State Government to take assistance of Community Based Organisations and carry out a fresh exercise of identifying sex workers in the State of West Bengal. The said exercise shall be based on the list submitted by NACO. After collating the information supplied by NACO and the Community Based Organisations, the authorities shall verify those lists and take immediate steps for issuance of ration cards to the sex workers without insisting on proof of identity.

4. The process as directed above shall be completed within a period of four weeks from today.

State of Maharashtra

5. According to the information provided by the State of Maharashtra in December, 2021, NACO has identified 25,594 sex workers and 6,731 dependent children. 11,282 sex workers have been issued ration cards. Mr. Sachin Patil, learned counsel appearing for the State, submitted that dry ration is being supplied to all those sex workers who have been identified. In the Order dated 10.01.2022, we directed the State Governments not to restrict issuance of ration cards only to those sex workers identified by NACO. The State of Maharashtra is directed to invite the Community Based Organisations to identify and submit a list of sex workers which shall be verified by the competent authorities. The benefit of the orders passed by this Court relating to issuance of ration cards shall be extended to the identified sex workers. Needless to say, the State Government shall continue to provide dry ration to sex workers without insisting on proof of identity.

6. We hav

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