In pursuance to the judgement of the Madras High Court where Justice Venkatesh had undergone counselling to understand the LGBTQIA+ community, the court has passed another order giving directions against harassment of the community and insensitive reportage in media. 

The petition was filed by two persons in a same sex relationship seeking police protection from the parents, which has now culminated into a continuing mandamus whereby the court is trying to ensure sensitisation of the police, the media as well as changes in MBBS curriculum to be more sensitive towards LGBTQIA+ persons and recognise the community’s issues, especially in field of mental health.

The judgement passed in June has been hailed as a landmark judgement, pioneering transformative jurisprudence that will help assimilation of the community in mainstream society and one that aims to prevent discrimination against the community from government agencies. In June, the court had given some detailed directions to police, judiciary, legal aid services and central ministries to sensitise employees and personnel in dealing with members of LGBTQIA+ community, which may be read here.

Compliance by Police

The Tamil Nadu police filed a compliance report with regards to the court’s directions in the judgement passed on June 7. The report stated that there is no discrimination and abuse in the process of incarceration of transgender and intersex persons at prisons in the state. Further, Tamil Nadu Police Academy informed the court that to create awareness about the offences and penalties as stipulated under Transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, training was conducted for 42 Deputy Superintendent of Police (Trainees) and for 25 TNPA staffs as well as online training for women Inspectors on field.

Harassment of LGBTQIA+ members

The court expressed its shock that NGOs reported instances where police refused to provide protection to the community members, and in certain cases, even harassed, not only the community members but also NGOs and field workers. The court was appalled that these instances took place subsequent to the court’s judgement in June. 

One of the excuses given by the police authorities while shunning these persons is the lack of an internal circular and/or notification issued by the higher authorities of the Department in this regard.

“Evidently, the larger excuse seems to be the sheer lack of awareness and the apathy towards arming themselves enough to fight for a community of public belonging to the citizenry of this nation, to whom they swore to be servants. This Court in its earlier Order already observed that ‘lack of awareness can be no excuse to any form of discrimination’, and the absence of internal communication and hierarchical orders is no excuse to deny protection to the community that is vulnerable, susceptible to threat and harassment,” the court observed.

The state counsel assured the court that the state DGP will be informed and steps will be taken to create awareness among Police about the circular memorandum. Yet, the court found it necessary to pass the following directions for more clarity on this issue:

a. Police department to refrain from harassing activists and people belonging to NGOs, not just the people who belong to the LGBTQIA+ community.

b. A specific clause is to be added in the Police Conduct Rules specifically providing that any harassment by the police, to the persons belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community and/or to the activists and NGO workers, will be treated as misconduct and will entail a punishment for such misconduct. and;

c. While conducting sensitisation programs for the Police, it must be conducted through the persons belonging to the community and/or the activists and NGO workers who are involved in this cause.

Confidence in the state government

The court expressed its confidence in the government of Tamil Nadu which has been known for introducing reforms in the interest of persons belonging to the marginalised communities and sects, and believes that the State Government will work towards the recognition and development of persons belonging to the community and they will be brought within the mainstream of the society.

Insensitive media remarks

The court also took notice of the insensitive language used by news media when reporting news about the community members.

“Media’s insensitive commentary and ridiculing with dramatic words, music on “reporting” though not new to our society, cannot be normalised. The reportage of the most intimate and personal aspects of an individual’s identity by the contemporary vernacular media is deeply problematic and it not just reflects the pre-existing harmful stigmatization of the community, but also perpetuates it,” observed the court.

The court refrained from giving any directions to the media which may unwittingly trench upon the freedom of press, however, urged the media to play a major role in spreading awareness through sensitive reporting of cases. The court also reposed confidence in the media and expected them to show more sensitivity while reporting cases and maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the persons involved in a news report.

Revamping MBBS course

The court pointed to the report submitted by Dr. Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju where she pointed out that medical fields of Psychiatry and Psychology have been complicit in perpetuating queerphobia. She said that there are vast amounts of transphobic and homophobic literature in medical textbooks. She cites Forensic Medicine describing “sodomy”, “lesbianism” and oral sex as sexual offences, and “transvestism” (cross-dressing) as a “sexual perversion”.

The above reflects how queerphobia is being reaffirmed as legitimate throughout the education of a doctor who might go on to become a psychiatrist or any physician who might be approached by a person from the community, the court noted. The court rightly pointed out, “Knowledge about a patient’s gender identity and sexuality may be of interest to a doctor, physician and a mental health professional if it is pertinent in cracking the course of treatment, but the course of treatment cannot be one which aims to “cure” their gender identity or sexuality itself.”

The court thus directed the Additional Solicitor General to bring this to the notice of National Medical Commission and Indian Psychiatric Society and further directed them to file a report as to how they are going to handle this issue in future by carrying out necessary changes in the curriculum.

Miscellaneous

The court finds it necessary to carry on with this momentum and create a congenial atmosphere for the persons belonging to the LGBTQIA+ Community by accepting them as they are. The court also expects the State and the Central Government to give more priority to this issue and come up with some positive actions on their part.

The case will next be heard on October 4 and the court has directed that te compliance reports be filed by then.

The complete order may be read here:

Related:

Madras HC issues guidelines for sensitisation of stakeholders in LGBTQIA+ matters
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I am not fully ‘woke’: Madras HC judge to start psychology sessions to understand same sex relationships

The post Madras HC bats for LGBTQIA+ again, issues more directions to police, media appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued a set of directions to contain the spread of coronavirus, after noting that the state has witnessed a “drastic surge” in infections, with the highest fatality rate in the country.

Justices Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Chander Bhusan Barowalia were dealing with a plea filed in connection with the lack of oxygen facilities and non-operational ventilators when it decided to expand the scope of it to the entire state regarding Covid management.

The Division Bench took note of the present situation in the state where infection cases have spread to not only urban but rural areas too. It observed that many deaths have been reported during the past few days from various parts of the state due to acute shortage of oxygen and medicines. There is also no system in place to comprehend how many normal beds, ICUs and ventilators are available in government and private hospitals.

RT-PCR test results are delayed and, in the meantime, if a patient dies, the body is handed over to the family members and cremation in such cases is not being conducted as per established Covid protocols.

Senior Advocate BN Mishra, for the petitioner, also submitted that only the rich and influential are being admitted to hospitals where there is availability of oxygen and some lifesaving drugs, while those belonging to the middle class, poor and below poverty line families are left without treatment.

He also told the court that the State Government is being discriminated against by the Central Government with regard to supply of drugs like Remdesivir, Favipiravir and Tocilizumab. Recently, only 3,000 vials have been allocated to the State Government, whereas, those states having lesser populations and far lesser Covid-19 cases have been supplied a far greater number of vials.

Directions

In light of these developments, the court has issued the following directions to the State:

1. Increase the number of authorized laboratories/clinics/hospitals which can carry on the testing for a larger percentage of population.

2. Increase the number of testing being done in the bigger towns of the State. The State Government should consider the use of other kits, besides the Rapid Antigen Kit, or the RT PCR tests, for increasing the tests being carried out on a daily basis.

3. In order to increase the testing facilities in the hill districts of the State, the State Government should consider sending ‘mobile vans’ which are fully equipped for carrying out the testing of Covid-19 virus.

4. The State should increase the number of dedicated Covid Hospitals. For, merely having few dedicated Covid hospitals, is too little to tackle the menace, especially when the pandemic is likely to spread and increase throughout the State in the coming months.

5. The State is directed to increase the number of beds available in the hospitals. It shall ensure that the majority of the beds are equipped with Oxygen tanks and sufficient numbers of beds are equipped with ventilators. If necessary, the number of ICUs in the hospitals should be increased.

6. The State Government is directed to ensure that the PPE kits and other protective gear, such as gloves, masks, and sanitizer are provided to all the medical staff, especially to the Doctors, Nurses, Ward boys to look after Covid patients.

7. The State Government is directed to publish the names and locations of the testing centres, and the names and locations of Hospitals/Dedicated COVID-19 Health Care Centres in the media bulletin on a daily basis. The media bulletin should clearly indicate the total number of beds available in each hospital/Dedicated COVID19 Health Care Centres, and the number of vacant beds available in each hospital. It should also indicate the class of the beds i.e. the number of beds attached with ventilators, number of beds attached with Oxygen cylinders and the number of beds without any Oxygen tank/ Cylinder.

The state has also been directed to furnish information about vacant beds for Covid patients, oxygen supply, a plan under the Disaster Management Act to tackle the Covid-19 cases, and steps taken to ensure the availability of essential drugs including Remdesivir, Favipiravir and Tocilizumab.

The order may be read here: 

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The post Drastic surge in Covid-19 cases, Himachal Pradesh HC issues directions appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Uttarakhand High Court has issued some directions on several petitions filed before it to address the critical condition of the pandemic in the state. At the outset, the court acknowledged that the petitions on Covid-19 management were slated to be heard on May 10 but the “critical condition prevailing in the State” prompted it to conduct the hearing early.

Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma have directed the government to immediately establish Health Centres/Care Centres in Ramnagar as there is no such facility. Considering the large number of samples, which still need to be tested, and the results need to be declared, the Bench directed the State Government to involve all private hospitals/clinics/laboratories to carry out the Rapid Antigen Tests. “As directed earlier, the number of samples that need to be taken in the large cities like Dehradun, Haridwar and Haldwani should be increased to anywhere between 30,000-50,000 per day,” it said.

The court noted the dearth of medical staff in Uttarakhand and suggested that registered final year dental surgeons could be employed to supplement the MBBS and nurses carrying out Covid tests. “It is imperative that the medical staff should be provided with the protective gears,” added the Bench.

On the issue of illegal sales, the court ordered, “All the District Magistrates are directed to ensure that complaints of black-marketing of medicines/essential commodities are immediately enquired into. In case black-marketing of medicines/essential commodities is discovered, the District Magistrates are directed to take strict action against such black-marketers in accordance with law.”

Further, the DMs have also been directed to inquire about overcharging by the ambulances for ferrying the dead bodies to the crematoriums. The High Court has also taken cognisance of the long queues for cremation and has directed the government to increase such grounds by declaring certain areas to be temporary cremation grounds. “The State Government is further directed to ensure that sufficient quantity of wood is available in each of such cremation grounds”, read the order.

On another petition heard by the same Bench, it noted that the list about oxygen suppliers made by the District Magistrate (Dehradun) was flawed and directed it to correct it. It said, “Since the list published by the District Magistrate, Dehradun dated 26.04.2021 is discovered to be flawed one, the District Magistrate, Dehradun is directed to correct the same, and to immediately inform the public in District-Dehradun with regard to the availability of oxygen with the suppliers available in District Dehradun.”

The Bench reiterated in a separate order that people responsible for hoarding medicines will be prosecuted for the same. “In case any pharmacist is discovered to be hoarding, or selling Remdesivir over the permissible price, the concerned Drug Inspector shall take action against the concerned pharmacist, but strictly in accordance with law,” ordered the court.

The court directed the state government to motivate people to undertake plasma donations, and convince the blood banks to collect plasma in each city/town, and to disburse the same for plasma therapy to all hospitals.

The matters have been listed on May 10.

The orders may be read here:

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