Post Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2016
On 1st February 2013, the High Court of New Delhi heard opening arguments in the case of Priya Kale vs. Government of NCT Delhi and Ors., (W.P. (C) 641 of 2013). The case concerns the shocking conditions in government homeless shelters in Delhi, particularly for pregnant and lactating women. The petitioner, Priya Kale, is a resident of a government run shelter home, Motia Khan, in the Pahar Ganj district of Delhi (hereafter ‘Motia Khan’ or ‘the Shelter’). On 6th January 2013, Priya’s two month old daughter died unexpectedly, most likely due to her lack of access to nutritional and medical health services at the Shelter, and the lack of protection the Shelter offers from Delhi’s harsh winter months. To protect the residents of Motia Khan, the Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Shakdher issued interim orders to the Respondents dictating certain immediate improvements for three government shelters in Delhi to prevent future tragedies like Priya’s.
The Hon’ble Court’s interim orders mandate that the following facilities be made available at Motia Khan and at two shelters in Sarai Rohilla and Jahangir Puri that are exclusively for pregnant and lactating women. The order states that;
- Blowers/heaters and geysers should be provided;
- If any pregnant inhabitant of the shelter home is due to deliver their child before the case is heard, the manager of the shelter should intimate this to the nearest MCD hospital and should ensure that if the women goes into labour she is transported to the nearest hospital;
- The Government of Delhi should provide adequate meals, three times a day to the shelter inhabitants.
Litigation
- Presentations from the Two Day Webinar on Reproductive Rights on 23rd & 24th of May, 2020
- Patna High Court: Ration facility for all transgender persons
- Nikhil Datar vs. Union of India: A long drawn struggle
- Patna High Court gives favourable order in response to the PIL on water logging in the state
- Guwahati High Court delivers landmark judgement; Department of Health and Family Welfare to pay Twenty Five Lakh Rupees to Petitioner in Nagaland
Fact Finding
- Presentations from the Two Day Webinar on Reproductive Rights on 23rd & 24th of May, 2020
- Report on the State level Consultation in Arunachal Pradesh on 2nd & 3rd November, 2019
- Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Dictionary
News
- Report of the two day webinar on ‘Access to Reproductive Justice’ on 23rd & 24th May, 2020
- Report of the National level consultation on Trans people and women’s issues- 28th & 29th December, 2019
- Nikhil Datar vs. Union of India: A long drawn struggle