Allahabad High Court forms team of young lawyers to gather info on homeless persons in Lucknow

The Allahabad High Court recently constituted a team of young lawyers to gather information about homeless persons within the municipal limits of of Lucknow. .A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla constituted a team of young lawyers—Raj Kumar Singh, Shailendra Singh Rajawat, Jitendra Narain Mishra, Vikas Kumar Agrawal, Rani Singh, and Shreya Agarwal—and directed them to accompany the petitioner, a practicing advocate, to locations within the municipal limits of Lucknow where destitute individuals are reportedly found.The team was directed to submit a report by the next hearing date on September 30. "We would like to have first hand information regarding the situation prevailing with respect to homeless persons, as mentioned in our earlier order dated 11.07.2024 loitering around or lying on the road etc., not being taken care of. We, therefore, constitute a team of young lawyers, consisting of Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Shri Shailendra Singh Rajawat, Shri Jitendra Narain Mishra, Shri Vikas Kumar Agrawal, Ms. Rani Singh and Ms. Shreya Agarwal, who shall accompany the petitioner, who is also a practicing Advocate and appears in person, to the places where according to her such destitutes are found within the municipal limits of Lucknow and submit a report to this Court by the next date," the order said.Previously, the Court had ordered a statewide exercise to identify the homeless persons and directed that they be provided with necessary relief in the form of shelter and health..The order was passed in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition moved by advocate Jyoti Rajpoot for rehabilitation of homeless persons in accordance with Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, Mental Healthcare Act and the Central government scheme of Shelters for Urban Homeless..During the previous hearing, the Court had examined the provisions of two enactments and observed that though there are certain mechanisms in place under them but “so far as the able homeless persons are concerned there appears to be no statutory provision though there is a scheme of the Central Government which they [State] accept has to be implemented by the State authorities and that there are certain shelter homes where such persons can be kept.”.Although some State Authorities filed responses, the necessary data has not been submitted on record, the Court noted in its latest order.Meanwhile, the petitioner stated that homeless persons are still loitering within the municipal limits of Lucknow.Though the State Authorities have made some efforts, they fall short of what is required, he said..In view of this, the Court constituted the team of lawyers to gather further information.The report prepared by the team of lawyers should be handed over to Additional Chief Standing Counsel Isha Mitta, the Court directed. She was ordered to immediately communicate the report to the concerned officials for necessary action following the Court's earlier orders without waiting for further instructions."An affidavit of compliance shall be filed by the next date. The requisite affidavits in compliance of our earlier order dated 11.07.2024 shall also be filed before the next date," the Court added.Advocate Jyoti Rajpoot appeared in-person.Advocates Isha Mitta and Nishant Shukla represented the State..[Read Order]