The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all States and Union Territories to constitute committees to identify and catalogue laws, regulations, and bylaws that continue to carry provisions which are discriminatory to persons suffering from leprosy..A Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh passed the order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking action for identifying and removing such discriminatory laws.The Court also directed Union government to issue a circular sensitizing all State governments and Union Territories about the issue and the Court’s orders.“We deem it appropriate to direct the Chief Secretaries and the Law Secretary to immediately constitute a committee, preferably to be headed by a person of the rank of Principal District Judge ... The committee shall be formally constituted within four weeks. It shall compile all State laws, both pre- and post-Independence, which are discriminatory ... This includes such regulations/ bylaws where similar provisions have been incorporated ... The concerned Ministry shall issue a circular sensitizing the States on the present issue,” the Court ordered..The petition before the Court was filed in 2010 by the Federation of Leprosy Organizations (FOLO). It recounted that the Indian Lepers Act, 1898 was a law that was enacted to segregate leprosy-affected people from the public by allowing their arrest and detention in asylums and by depriving such people of voting rights, property rights, employment rights etc. However, this law was eventually repealed after a cure emerged for leprosy, and the disease was eventually declared to be non-contagious once treatment began. However, despite this, the petition has pointed out that in India, there are various laws, government orders, etc. that discriminate against leprosy patients or leprosy afflicted persons, which continue to be retained even after the repeal of the Indian Lepers Act. For example, marriage laws say that a spouse suffering from leprosy is a ground to dissolve a marriage. The petitioner has questioned such differential treatment of leprosy-affected persons, since the disease is now fully curable and not infectious once Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT) is administered. .Yesterday, the Court took note of the submission that there could be over 145 laws and subordinate legislation in India that contain provisions which discriminate against persons affected by leprosy.Earlier, the Court had called on States to conduct a legislative review and take corrective steps. However, the Court yesterday noted that there was no clarity on how many States had complied with the directive.The Court added that it is not inclined to strike down laws arbitrarily, as a legislative vacuum could follow. However, it said that it would consider issuing specific directions to the concerned States to take corrective steps once the list is compiled on legal provisions that discriminate against persons with leprosy."Provide us with a list of the relevant statutes. We will issue appropriate directions on a State-wise basis. We cannot simply strike down a statute—who will fill the legislative gap then?" the Court remarked. .Yesterday's hearing also saw the Court flag certain shortfalls in the drafting of the plea before it. "The first casualty of this bar is drafting. Every year, we give licenses to 350 people in the name that they are licensed to draft, but they don’t know the ABC of drafting," Justice Surya Kant, in a pointed critique, remarked..The Court listed the matter for further hearing on July 30, 2025, by which date the standing counsels of all States have been asked to submit their respective status reports..Advocates Mayuri Raghuvanshi and Rashmi Nandakumar appeared for the petitioner, while Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the Central government..[Read Live Coverage]
