REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
W
RIT PETITION (CIVIL
) N
O . 659 of 2007
Environment and Consumer Protection
Foundation
….Petitioner
versus
Union of India & Ors.
…Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 168 of 2012
AND
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 133 of 2012
JUDGMENT
Madan B. Lokur, J.
1. These petitions were filed and taken up in public interest are intended to bring back some sunshine in the lives of the widows in Vrindavan and in ashrams elsewhere in the country. It is a pity that these widows have been so
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 1 of 20 unfortunately dealt with, as if they have ceased to be entitled to live a life of dignity and as if they are not entitled to the protection of Article 21 of the Constitution.
2. The petitioner, Environment and Consumer Protection Foundation is a registered charitable society and a non-political body. It filed a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution essentially for an appropriate writ requiring the Union of India and the State of Uttar Pradesh to take all steps to rehabilitate the widows of Vrindavan so as to bring them to a stage where they can live with dignity.
3. The petition was filed on the basis of an article ‘White Shadows of Vrindavan’ written by Atul Sethi and published in the New Delhi edition of the Times of India of 25th March, 2007. The apparent intention of the article was to report and bring to the notice of the public and the government agencies the pathetic and shocking conditions of the widows living in Vrindavan - begging in temples and then huddling together in hovels. Broadly speaking, the article described the city of Vrindavan in which abandoned widows live a hand to mouth existence like white shadows thus giving the city another name that is the City of Widows. According to the author no one knows since when these widows have been coming to Vrindavan but most of them are from West Bengal and their life stories often
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 2 of 20 follow a similar pattern which is the death of the husband, relatives leaving them in Vrindavan, days spent singing prayers and begging at temples where they live on a day to day basis. Most widows refuse to go back to their village or home, even if they are given a chance to do so, saying that now this is our home.
4. According to the author, the widows congregate in some ashrams or temples where they sing bhajans and are paid about Rs. 18 per day for about 7 to 8 hours of singing. The rest of their time is spent begging on the streets. Many of them are too old to look after themselves requiring others to pool in their resources to look after them. Overall, the article paints a rather tragic and dismal picture of the living conditions of the widows in Vrindavan.
5. On reading the article, the petitioner addressed a letter to the District Magistrate in Mathura and brought to his notice its contents and sought further information on what was stated therein. A reply was sent to the petitioner to the effect that necessary steps were being taken to improve the living condition of the widows. There was some correspondence in this regard for a couple of months but to no real effect. It is this sequence of events that persuaded the petitioner to file a petition in this Court with the prayer as aforesaid.
6. This Court took up the petition in public interest and passed certain W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 3 of 20
significant directions. For example, on 14th November, 2008 the National Commission for Women was directed to prepare a comprehensive report on the problems faced by the widows. It was also directed that the report should contain the age groups of the widows, their family background and all other information relevant for the purposes of this case.
7. On 1st April, 2011 the Ministry of Women and Child Development in the Government of India was impleaded as one of the respondents and on 9th May, 2012 this Court directed that in order to mitigate the miseries of the widows, a Special Committee should be constituted to undertake an exercise of identification and enumeration of the destitute in Vrindavan - both those having shelter and those wandering in the streets without any shelter. The Committee was required to collect complete data of the widows including the reason for their shifting to Vrindavan and particulars about their family and their present source of income.
8. Several other orders were passed from time to time more particularly from 2015 onwards when the Social Justice Bench was constituted by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India. As a result, a very large number of reports were generated and concerned authorities like the National Commission for Women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the State of Uttar Pradesh began taking considerable interest in the problems faced by
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 4 of 20 the widows of Vrindavan. The reports generated from time to time are as follows:
1. Summary Report (undated) of the Situation Analysis of Widows in Religious Places of West Bengal prepared by Jayaprakash Institute of Social Change DD – 18/4/1, Salt Lake City, Kolkata – 700 064. This is filed in W.P. No.133 of 2012.
2. Status Report (undated) filed by National Legal Services Authority, Delhi Legal Services Authority and by National Commission for Women.
3. Study by the National Commission for Women in 2009-10 on widows in Vrindavan.
4. Minutes of the Meeting held on 10th May, 2011 by the Secretary Ministry of Women and Child Development.
5. Report filed by National Legal Services Authority dated 14th July, 2012. This is filed in W.P. No. 133 of 2012 on 26th July, 2012.
6. A Report dated 10th September, 2012 on Measures taken for compliance of Hon’ble Supreme Court Order dated 03-08-2012 And Few Ground Realities With Some Reforms Immediately Required by Secretary District Legal Service Authority, Addl. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mathura. This is filed in W.P. No.133 of 2012.
7. Plight of Foresaken/Forlorn Women – Old and Widows Living in Vrindavan & Radhakund, Mathura (U.P.) – A Survey Report dated 10th November, 2012 by District Legal Services Authority, Mathura. This is filed in W.P. No.133 of 2012.
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 5 of 20
8. Report of the Member Secretary, National Legal Services Authority dated 14th January, 2014 filed in W.P. No. 133 of 2012 on 12th September, 2014.
9. Report of the Secretary, District Legal Services Authority at Mathura dated 31st March, 2014. 10.Status Report filed by Ms. Renuka Kumar on 16th April, 2015. 11.Minutes of the Meeting held by the Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development on 2nd September, 2015. 12.Status Report filed on 11th March, 2016 on behalf of State of Uttar Pradesh.
13.Report by Ms. Renuka Kumar dated 19th April, 2016 on 17 homes administered by the U.P. Mahila Kalyan Nigam.
14.Status Report dated 28th April, 2016 by the National Commission for Women of 28.04.2016 giving some preliminary recommendations. 15.Status report along with budget requirement submitted by Ms. Renuka Kumar on 31st August, 2016. 16.Status Report on widows in Swadhar Homes in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Odisha by the National Commission for Women in November, 2016. 17.Report on the medical facilities for widows and destitute women in Vrindavan submitted by Ms. Renuka Kumar on 8th November, 2016.
18. Affidavit in compliance filed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on 2nd June, 2017 concerning order dated 21st April, 2017. W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 6 of 20
9. With the plethora of reports and material available and with the generous assistance given and deep involvement of all learned counsel, we found it more appropriate to request them to give us agreed directions that could be issued to mitigate the discomfort of the widows of Vrindavan. Accordingly, the following order was passed on 29th March, 2017:
“Ms. Aparna Bhat, learned counsel appearing for the National Commission for Women and Mr. A.K. Panda, learned senior counsel appearing for the Ministry of Women and Child Development assisted by Ms. Pushpa Bisht, Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development say that it will be appropriate if agreed directions are formulated and issued so that immediate steps are taken to improve the conditions of widows in different parts of the country. Learned counsel for the parties say that either they or their representatives will sit together and come out with a list of agreed directions which may be passed by this Court on 6th April, 2017.”
10. Unfortunately, perhaps due to some misunderstanding or a lack of effective communication, agreed directions could not be finalized till 18th July, 2017. On that date the learned Solicitor General handed over an Agreed Action Plan. The Agreed Action Plan with our comment on some issues is given in the table below:
AGREED ACTION PLAN
Directions proposed
by the National
Commission
for
Women
Action Plan of the Ministry
of Women and Child
Development
Our Comment
1.
Create an interactive
data-base
which
The Ministry of Women and
Child Development will
The Aadhaar enabled
software will, of
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 7 of 20
would provide access
for homes to input
information as soon as
a widow enters their
system. The database
must have a profile of
the widow to be able
to understand her
needs [and needs to be
updated] as soon as a
widow enters the
system. The portal
can be created by the
government
with
access given to
registered homes to
provide their inputs.
The Government of
India has initiated
such a programme for
the purposes of
adoption.
develop appropriate Aadhaar
enabled software for capturing
data concerning inmates of
Swadhar Greh within next six
months and, if necessary, an
external agency will be
engaged for it. Access, to the
extent required, will be
provided
to
different
stakeholders and the agency
entrusted with the development
of the software will be asked to
build in adequate safeguards to
protect the confidentiality of
the information.
course, be subject to
the pending litigation
in this Court.
2.
Widows with families
must be identified and
their families must be
counseled for taking
care of them and in
cases where required
legal
action,
as
warranted, may be
taken.
Family counseling centres
working under Central Social
Welfare Board (CSWB) and
State Social Welfare Boards
(SSWB) across the country
will be entrusted with the
responsibility of identifying
widows who have families.
The progress of the work done
will be compiled by the CSWB
every month and a report sent
to the Ministry every quarter.
The
CSWB
will,
in
consultation
with
other
stakeholders, be asked to
develop a suitable module for
counseling families within a
period of six months and,
thereafter, review and update it
as and when required.
The follow-up post
counselling should be
made clear and
particularly in cases
where the family
does not take care of
the widow even after
being counselled.
3.
NALSA must create a
mechanism to enable
homes to access legal
aid.
NALSA/DALSA will be
advised to provide legal aid to
the inmates of Swadhar Greh
within 15 days of the
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 8 of 20 acceptance of the plan of action by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. 4. Public sector organizations must be encouraged to contribute certain percentage of their CSR funds for a Widows Management Fund which would be used for developing vocational trainings for widows.
The Ministry of Women and
Child Development has already
taken up the matter with the
Department
of
Public
Enterprises and Ministry of
Corporate Affairs. The matter
shall be further pursued with
them.
The
concerned
Ministry should be
advised that the fund
is intended to assist
and benefit destitute
widows.
5.
The government must
actively
explore
medical insurances for
all widows and at least
widows that are
housed in the Swadhar
Homes so that good
medical facilities can
be accessed by the
widows.
In all States and Union
Territories, medicines are
provided free of cost to the
patients through the Common
Health Centres and Primary
Health Centres under the
National Health Mission of the
Ministry of Health & Family
Welfare. It may, therefore, not
be necessary to introduce
medical insurance as such a
measure could take away a
portion of the income of
widows and impoverish them
further. The Ministry of Health
& Family Welfare has been
requested to advise all State
Governments and Union
Territory administrations to
ensure that access to free
medicines is ensured to all
those staying in Swadhar
Homes.
The benefit of the
supply
of
free
medicines should be
made available to
destitute women as
well. Availability of
free
medical
treatment
needs
consideration.
6.
Homes must be linked
to
existing
Government
Programmes. Homes
must be encouraged to
open more avenues for
employing the widows
in the care and
hospitality sector than
sticking to tailoring
The Ministry of Skill
Development
and
Entrepreneurship has been
requested to prepare a plan of
action for development of
skills of widows; and orphan,
destitute and marginalized
women through sectoral skill
development councils. They
have also been requested to
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 9 of 20
etc. which do not
provide economically
viable employment to
the widows and hence
compels them to stay
in these homes.
monitor the progress in this regard at regular intervals. The Ministry of Women & Child Development will continue to engage with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to ensure development of suitable modules for skill development. 7. Staff of Swadhar Home must be trained periodically and should be adequately and appropriately, compensated financially.
The National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) under the Ministry of Women & Child Development is already mandated to provide training to different stakeholders including the staff of Swadhar Greh. Depending upon training needs assessment, the CSWB can also be entrusted with this responsibility. Provision has been made for imparting induction training and subsequent periodic training on regular intervals of time to the staff of Swadhar Greh. 8. Immediate action to be taken to improve the infrastructure of the Homes and funds to maintain it.
In addition to the Swadhar
Greh
Scheme
being
implemented throughout the
country, the Ministry of
Women & Child Development
has commenced construction of
a new 1000 bedded Swadhar
Greh at, Vrindavan, Distt.
Mathura. It has been designed
to be old age friendly and will
have dormitories with attached
toilet and utility balconies. The
Swadhar Greh will also have
facility for physiotherapy, open
theatre, vocational training,
solar PV, solar water heating
system, multipurpose hall, etc.
The expected date of
completion of this Swadhar
Greh is January, 2018.
State Governments
should be encouraged
to adopt the model
planned by the
Ministry.
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 10 of 20
PENSION
1.
It was found that the
current allocation of
pension was either
inadequate
or
non-existent.
The
primary concerns that
arose out of the
research was that the
pension amounts were
not linked to the cost
of living. There was
no rational calculation
for the amounts or the
ceiling in the number
of beneficiaries that
the pension could be
given to in any given
State. Pension should
be based on the Cost
of Living Index and
hence it should be on
par with the minimum
wage of an unskilled
worker
with
corresponding
increase
as
the
minimum
wage
increases.
The comparison between the
amount of pension provided by
the Government and the
minimum wages payable under
various government schemes is
not fair. While, pension is paid
as a welfare measure without
any services being rendered by
the beneficiary, wages is the
remuneration for the services
rendered by the wage earner. If
the two were to be equal, it will
be a major disincentive to able
bodied person to do any work.
Pension, as a welfare
measure ought to be
linked with the cost
of living index and
should
not
be
arbitrarily fixed.
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF SHELTERS
1.
A
Multi-optional
model be employed
for institutionalized
shelters. The shelters
can be built to cater
the requirement of the
user on the basis of a
corresponding user-fee
for an overnight
shelter, a day shelter
User-fees can be paid by a
person who is earning.
Swadhar scheme caters to
women who are in the abyss of
poverty and payment of any
user-fee by them would be
beyond
their
means.
[However, working women
hostels will be encouraged to
be established by the States and
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 11 of 20
or a fulltime shelter.
Union Territories.]
2.
Direct the integration
of Swadhar Homes,
short stay homes and
other similarly placed
facility homes to
facilitate a smoother
implementation of the
policies directed for
widow rehabilitation.
The two schemes Swadhar
Homes and Short Stay Homes
of the Ministry of Women &
Child Development have
already been merged into the
new scheme namely Swadhar
Greh w.e.f. 01.01.2016. This
scheme is implemented by the
State
Government/UT
Administration with funding
from Govt. of India.
Social audits should
be conducted with
regard
to
implementation of
the schemes.
3.
Enhance the ceiling
limit of three years on
the women staying in
Swadhar Homes in
order to effectively
stabilize the lives of
the inmates.
The proposal for enhancing the limit for staying in Swadhar Greh for women beneficiaries above 55 years of age is under consideration of the Government and a decision in this regard will be taken shortly. 4. Structural integration of old age homes into shelters; To this end, medical assessment of Women between the age of 60 to 65 years of age in the shelters be conducted on the basis of which the women can continue to reside in the shelters.
The Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment has been
requested to accommodate
widows from Swadhar Greh to
Old Age Home on attaining age
of 60 years. The required
medical facilities will be tied
up by agencies concerned with
the local CHCs/PHCs.
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
1.
To integrate the efforts
of the Rashtriya
Swasthya
Bima
Yojana into the
Swadhar Scheme.
Linkage of homes that
house old women with
medical dispensaries
is recommended.
As stated above, free medicines
are provided by CHCs and
PHCs to all patients under the
NHM of the Ministry of Health
& Family Welfare and the
Ministry has been requested to
advise all State Governments
and
Union
Territory
administrations to ensure that
access to free medicines is
ensured to all those staying in
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 12 of 20
Swadhar Homes.
2.
Utilization of the
Widow
Pension
Scheme for procuring
medical facilities.
Widow pension is paid to
individuals. In the light of the
availability of medicines free
of cost, as stated above, it may
not be necessary to divert the
pension amount for purchase of
medicines.
COVERAGE OF LEGAL FEES AND EXPENSES
1.
NALSA and DALSA
to allocate appropriate
sanctions to cover the
legal expenses of the
widows involved in
legal matters, and the
incidental expenses
incurred
for
commuting and so on
and so forth.
The inmates of Swadhar Greh
will have access to free legal
aid
provided
by
NALSA/DALSA
and
necessary advisory will be
issued in this regard.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
1.
Mandatory
and
organized vocational
training of the women
in the shelters to
impart skill sets
necessary for an
ordinary life and to
enable them to earn a
dignified livelihood.
As stated above, the Ministry
of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship has been
requested to prepare a plan of
action for development of
skills of widows and orphan,
destitute and marginalized
women through sectoral skill
development councils. They
have also been requested to
monitor the progress in this
regard at regular intervals. The
Ministry of Women & Child
Development will continue to
engage with the Ministry of
Skill
Development
and
Entrepreneurship to ensure
development of suitable
modules.
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 13 of 20
GRANT OF SANCTIONS
1.
Enhancement
of
sanctions by the
Ministry to provide
the
concerned
agencies with a
budget necessary for
the proper functioning
of the homes.
Periodic and timely
release of grants to
facilitate
the
continuance
and
sustenance of the
homes.
The financial norms of
Swadhar Greh Scheme have
been revised w.e.f. 01.01.2016
and on further examination, the
Department of Expenditure has
opined that these are adequate
for the time being.
The norms should be
reviewed every six
months.
PERIODIC REVIEW OF THE HOMES
1.
That the National
Commission
for
Women be directed to
conduct a review to
study the existing
status of widows in
the homes in our
country in the near
future.
The National Commission for
Women may take appropriate
action for taking the proposed
review to study the existing
status of widows in homes.
2.
To this end, grants be
sanctioned by the
Rural
Ministry,
Ministry of Social
Justice
and
Empowerment and the
Ministry of Women
and Children for the
survey
to
be
conducted by the
NCW.
National Commission for
Women may carry out their
study out of the existing funds
available
with
them.
Additional funds if sought by
them will be made subject to
availability of funds.
The Ministry ought
not to be stingy with
funds – especially for
a good cause.
3.
Mandate a periodic
review of the homes
every five years at the
State and District
Level to conduct
periodic inspections of
The Swadhar Greh Scheme has
an
inbuilt
monitoring
mechanism. The monitoring of
Homes is undertaken through a
three tiered structure viz.
District Level, State Level and
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 14 of 20
the homes to ensure
the
proper
implementation of the
schemes and the
functioning of the
homes and the records
monitored by the DPO
(District
Project
Officer).
Annually for 3 years
and then every 3
years.
the Central Level. Swadhar
Greh will be sanctioned
initially for a period of five
years. After implementation of
the scheme for 5 years, the
Project Sanctioning Committee
shall decide on its further
continuance or otherwise
depending on its performance
and need.
CREATION OF AWARENESS
1.
To engage at rural and
district levels to
spread awareness of
the existence of the
schemes akin to
swadhar homes and to
impart knowledge of
the rights exercisable
by the women in
similarly
placed
situations.
The Swadhar Greh Scheme is
being implemented by the State
Governments. The States/UTs
will generate awareness about
Swadhar Greh and disseminate
information about Swadhar
Greh through various modes.
As a part of the scheme,
guidelines have already been
issued by the Ministry of
Women & Child Development.
11. It is also our opinion that the effort put in by all concerned in the reports that we have adverted to above should not go waste – it must be gainfully utilized, being in a sense a gold mine of pragmatic and workable suggestions. Accordingly, we constitute a Committee to study all the reports filed in this Court and provide us with a common working plan (based on the suggestions in the reports) within a period of two months and in any case on or before 30th November, 2017. The Committee shall consist of the
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 15 of 20 following (the first two suggested by the learned Solicitor General on instructions from the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the third by learned counsel for the National Commission for Women):
1. Ms. Suneeta Dhar of NGO Jagori,
2. Ms. Meera Khanna of Guild for Service
3. Ms. Abha Singhal Joshi, Lawyer and activist
4. A nominee of HelpAge India, an NGO that has rendered valuable assistance in this case,
5. A nominee of Sulabh International, an NGO that has rendered valuable assistance in this case,
6. Ms. Aparajita Singh, a lawyer practising in this Court to provide any assistance on legal issues.
12. One of the issues adverted to during the hearing of the petitions, but not mentioned in any of the reports, is the need to encourage widow remarriage. This is a subject of hope that might enable our society to give up the stereotype view of widows. We request the Committee to consider this during its deliberations.
13. We request the National Commission for Women, in public interest, to assist in providing some working space to the Committee. We propose to adequately remunerate the Committee with an honorarium that will be
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 16 of 20 decided when the matter is next heard. The Registry will ensure that all the reports are made available to the members of the Committee.
14. Why are the Action Plan and these directions necessary? We seem to be forgetting the power of Public Interest Litigation and therefore need to remind ourselves, from time to time, of its efficacy in providing social justice. Many years ago, this Court noted in People’s Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India1 that
“Public interest litigation is brought before the court not for the purpose of enforcing the right of one individual against another as happens in the case of ordinary litigation, but it is intended to promote and vindicate public interest which demands that violations of constitutional or legal rights of large numbers of people who are poor, ignorant or in a socially or economically disadvantaged position should not go unnoticed and unredressed. That would be destructive of the rule of law which forms one of the essential elements of public interest in any democratic form of Government.” A little later in the judgment, it was said:
“Millions of persons belonging to the deprived and vulnerable sections of humanity are looking to the courts for improving their life conditions and making basic human rights meaningful for them. They have been crying for justice but their cries have so far been in the wilderness. They have been suffering injustice silently with the patience of a rock, without the strength even to shed any tears.”
15. The advantage of public interest litigation is not only to empower the economically weaker sections of society but also to empower those suffering from social disabilities that may not necessarily of their making. The
1
(1982) 3 SCC 235
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 17 of 20 widows of Vrindavan (and indeed in other ashrams) quite clearly fall in this category of a socially disadvantaged class of our society.
16. Placing empowerment in perspective, this Court noted in State of Uttaranchal v. Balwant Singh Chaufal2 that the first phase of public interest litigation concerned itself with primarily with the protection of the fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of “the marginalized groups and sections of the society who because of extreme poverty, illiteracy and ignorance cannot approach this Court or the High Courts.” We may add – the socially underprivileged groups. These are the people who have no real access to justice and in that sense are voiceless, and these are the people who need to be empowered and whose cause needs to be championed by those who advocate social justice for the disadvantaged.
17. This recognition formed the basis of the decision of this Court in Delhi Jal Board v. National Campaign for Dignity & Rights of Sewerage & Allied Workers3 wherein providing succour to the deprived sections of society was recognized as a “constitutional duty” of this Court. Referring to several judgments delivered by this Court, it was observed:
“These judgments are a complete answer to the appellant’s objection to the maintainability of the writ petition filed by Respondent 1. What the High Court has done by entertaining the writ petition and issuing directions for protection of the persons employed to do work
2
(2010) 3 SCC 402
3
(2011) 8 SCC 568
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 18 of 20
relating to sewage operations is part of its obligation to do justice to the disadvantaged and poor sections of the society. We may add that the superior courts will be failing in their constitutional duty if they decline to entertain petitions filed by genuine social groups, NGOs and social workers for espousing the cause of those who are deprived of the basic rights available to every human being, what to say of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. It is the duty of the judicial constituent of the State like its political and executive constituents to protect the rights of every citizen and every individual and ensure that everyone is able to live with dignity.”
18. There can be little or no doubt at all that widows in some parts of the country are socially deprived and to an extent ostracized. Perhaps this is the reason why many of them choose to come to Vrindavan and other ashrams where, unfortunately, they are not treated with the dignity they deserve. This is evident from the article that caused this public interest litigation and the compilation of reports that this litigation has generated. It is to give voice these hapless widows that it became necessary for this Court to intervene as a part of its constitutional duty and for reasons of social justice to issue appropriate directions. 19. We must express our gratitude to the petitioners, the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the National Commission for Women for the efforts put in and particularly to Ms. Renuka Kumar who has been of great assistance to this Court through her reports.
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 19 of 20
20. With a view to follow-up on the Agreed Action Plan submitted by the learned Solicitor General, list these matters on 9th October, 2017.
……………………………J
(Madan B. Lokur)
……………………………..J (Deepak Gupta) New Delhi; August 11, 2017
W.P. (C) Nos. 659 of 2007 etc. Page 20 of 20