Holding

Sex workers are entitled to life with dignity under Article 21, and the State must enact and fund rehabilitation schemes, including technical and vocational training, to enable their voluntary exit from prostitution.

Summary

The Supreme Court dismissed the criminal appeal of Budhadev Karmaskar, who was convicted of murdering a sex worker, and suo motu converted the matter into a public interest litigation to address the plight of sex workers nationwide. The Court held that sex workers are human beings entitled to life with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution and that poverty, not choice, drives women into prostitution. It directed the Central and State Governments, through their Social Welfare Departments, to devise and implement rehabilitation schemes providing technical and vocational training, market linkages, and accommodation for sex workers. A panel comprising senior advocates and NGOs was constituted to monitor the implementation and to submit periodic progress reports. The Court further ordered the governments to provide necessary funds and infrastructure to the panel and to ensure voluntary, non‑coercive rehabilitation of willing sex workers.

Issues considered

Whether sex workers are entitled to protection under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Whether the State is obligated to formulate rehabilitation schemes for sex workers.
Whether technical and vocational training can enable sex workers to lead a life of dignity.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 21

Subjects

Sex workersRight to lifeArticle 21RehabilitationPublic Interest LitigationTechnical vocational trainingHuman dignitySocial welfare

Judgment

[2011] 9 S.C.R. 680
...
A BUDHADEV KARMASKAR
v.
STATE OF WEST BENGAL
(Criminal Appeal No. 135 of 2010)
•
AUGUST 02, 2011 ~
B
[MARKANDEY KATJU AND GYAN SUDHA MISRA, JJ.]

Public Interest Litigation - Issue as regards the problems
of sex workers in the country - Held: Sex workers are also
c human beings and thus, are entitled to a life of dignity - Sex
workers can lead a life of dignity if they earn their livelihood
through their technical skills instead of selling their bodies -
Thus, panel consisting of senior advocates and NGO •
constituted by Supreme Court, to monitor rehabilitation of sex
~
D workers - The Secretaries, Social Welfare Departments of the
State Governments and the Central Government to meet the
panel constituted to discuss how proper schemes in the spirit
of the order by this Court can be prepared - Thereafter, the
State and the Centre to come out with the schemes/
E suggestions indicating rehabilitation of sex workers, effective
feedback as regards rehabilitation with a list of sex workers
willing for rehabilitation - Panel constituted to submit another
report of the progress made by the next date of hearing - ,•
Social welfare - Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 21.
F CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No. 135 of 2010.

From the Judgment & Order dated 25.07.2007 of the High
Court of Calcutta in Criminal Appeal No. 487 of 2004.
G
P.P. Malhotra, ASG Pradip Ghosh, Jayant Bhushan, T.S.
••
Doabia, Ashok Bhan, Ratnakar Dash, I. Venkatanarayana, R.
Sundravaradan, A. Maria;putham, AG, Dr. Manish Singhvi,
Shail Kr. Dwivedi, Manjit Singh, AAG, Pijush K. Roy, Reena
H 680
BUDHADEV KARMASKAR v. STATE OF WEST 681
i ... BENGAL
George, Gautam Talukdar, Lajja Ram, Gaurav Sharma, D.S. A
Mahra, Sushma Suri, Sadhana Sandhu, Mohd. Khairati, lrshad
Ahmad, Vijay Verma, Anitha Shenoy, Ashutosh Sharma, Alka
Sinha, Anuvrat Sharma, D. Mahesh Babu, Ramesk Allanki, V.
~ Pattabhi Ram, Savita Dhanda, Ranjan Mozumbar (for Corporate
~
Law Group) Anil Srivastava, Rituraj Biswas, Gopal Singh, B
Manish Kumar, Anjani Aiyag·ari, S. wasim A. Quadiri, Anil
Katiyar, Hemantika vyahi, Suveni Banerjee, Ashwini Kumar,
Tarjit Singh, Kamal Mohan Gupta, Abhishek Sood, Rohit Kr.
Singh, Sunil Fernandes, Astha Sharma, P.V. Dinesh, Jogy
Scaria, Sanjay Kharde (for Asha G. Nair), Kh. No~in Singh, c
Balaji Srinivasan, Radha Shyam Jena, Kuldip Singh, R.K.
Pandey, H.S. Sandhu, K.K. Pandey, Mohit Mudgil, Aruna
Mathur, Avneesh Arputham, Yusuf Khan, Megha Gaur,
·~
Arputham Aruna & Co., Aniruddha P. Mayee, Abhijit Sengupta,
": B.P. Yadav, Anima Kujur, Anil K. Jha, Dharmendra Kr. Sinha, D
Chhaya Kumari, V.G. Pragasam, S.J. Aristotle, Prabu
Ramasubramanian, Savita Singh, Anand Grover, Tripti Tandon,
Shivangi Rai, Amritananda Chakraborty, Shefali Malhotra,
Prakash Kumar Singh, Ravi Kant, A. Subhashini, Aishwarya
Bhati, C.D. Singh, K.N. Madhusoodhanan, M.T. George,
E
Subramonium Prasad, Sunil Kumar, Singh, Mukti Singh,
Jatinder Kr. Bhatia, Manpreet Sing Doabia, Kiran Bhardwaj,
,~,
Edward Belho, A. Athuimei R. Naga, K. lnatoli Serna, Nimshim
:r Voshum, Ranjan Mukherjee for the appearing parties.
The following order of the Court was delivered F
ORDER
"Pinha tha daam-e-sakht qareeb aashiyaan ke
\ Udhne hi na paaye the ki giraftaar hum hue"
G
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
H
682 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [20111 9 S.C.R.
.... '
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. •
B •
2. In our order dated 14th February, 2011 we observed:

"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
c 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. •
D In the novels and stories of the great Bengali writer
Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya, many prostitutes have
been sh.own 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
E 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').

F 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
G a contemporary of Lord Buddha".
•>
3. We further observed :
"Although we have dismissed this Appeal, we
H strongly feel that the Central and the State Governments
,.
BUDHADEV KARMASKAR v. STATE OF WEST 683
~ :.. BENGAL

through Social Welfare Boards should prepare schemes A
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 B
also need to be addressed.

As already observed by us, a woman is compelled
to indulge in prostitution not for pleasure but because of
abject poverty. If such a woman is granted opportunity to
avail some technical or vocational training, she would be c
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/ D
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 E
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. F
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
..... G
Multipurpose Cooperative Society (UMCS) and Roshni through
its founder Ms. S~ima 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 H
684 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2011] 9 S.C.R.
....
A 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.

6. We have perused the report. It shows that the panel has
B
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
c 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
·D and also to visit other three metropolitan cities i.e. Kolkata,
.
Mumbai and Chennai and also oth3r 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
E 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 'I

discussions with the Chairman of the panel Mr. Pradip Ghosh,
F Senior Advocate and other members.

9. In paragraph 1Oof 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 infrastructure,
G 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.

H 10. We have noted that some of the members of the panel
...
BUDHADEV KARMASKAR v. STATE OF WEST 685
,. )>
BENGAL
are from Kolkata and Delhi, but there is no representation from A
Mumbai and Chennai. Since we had directed that we shall first
4" 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
1
activists from Mumbai and Chennai also in this connection. 8
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 c
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
" animals. Sex in humans has a cultural aspect to it also, and is D
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 E
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 F
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
i
'..4
sex workers in India, many even from Nepal, Bangaldesh, and
even the former Soviet Union. This is due to massive poverty G
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 H
...
686 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2011] 9 S.C.R.
~ .
A 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 Bengali writer Sharat Chandra
Chattopadhayay it has been shown that many of the sex
workers were women of very high character, e.g. Rajyalakshmi,
B 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
c 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.
•
•·
D 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.
E
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 applicant should . '\
approach the Panel constituted by us and give whatever
F 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 ~

G 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
H the State Governments to come forward with specific schemes
BUDHADEV KARMASKAR v. STATE OF WEST 687
BENGAL

~ ).
for giving technical training to sex workers but that has not been A
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
:i. schemes in the spirit of our orders can be prepared. B
1 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 results, at least
in phases. So by the next date we expect the State counsels c
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 D
.. State Governments and the metro cities can come out with
effective results in this regard and by w~y 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 E
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 F
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 G
orders the sex workers in our country will not be rehabilitated
\1 immediately. It will take .a long time, but we have to work
patiently in this direction. What we have done in this case is
to present the situation of sex workers in the country in the
H
688 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2011] 9 S.C.R.

A 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
B 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
C at 10.30 a.m. by which date the Panel appointed by us should
submit another report of the progress made.

N.J. Matter adjourned.
..

.
. '