they arrive in police vans at 330pm many are senior citizens mentally or physically impaired constables wielding sticks and wearing masks because of the smell bring them before a judge who asks them to prove they arent beggars firsttime offenders who have id cards are released others defend themselves as best they can without a lawyer a handcart pusher holds up his calloused hands as proof of hard labour but hes herded with the rest to the beggars home in chembur this scene is enacted monday to friday at the kurla magistrate court on lbs marg because of a 1959 law called the bombay prevention of begging act which was extended to delhi in 1960 last month the delhi high court struck down certain provisions because criminalizing begging violates the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable people in our society senior advocate colin gonsalves who fought the case says the judgment should extend beyond the capital if a statute is declared unconstitutional in delhi it is obviously unconstitutional across india he explains however in mumbai daily roundups by the police continue especially in tony neighbourhoods like colaba and fort a lawyer who has observed these proceedings for 23 years calls the act a chakravyuh from which only professional beggars rich enough to pay the 600rupee fine can escapetimesviewthe bombay prevention of begging act 1959 is an antiquated law which the delhi high court has rightfully struck down as unconstitutional maharashtra should quickly follow suit and relegate this law to the history books beggars are not criminals and shouldnt be treated as such rather than forced incarceration what they deserve is rehabilitation and supportthe law gives the police the power to arrestwithout a warrantnot just those caught soliciting alms but anyone having no visible means of subsistence thus besides beggars they catch migrant labourers street vendors abandoned senior citizens and the mentally ill one such is vijay a house painter who has been branded a beggar despite having a home and family in pune a regular visitor to the city he wasnt alarmed when the police van stopped to pick him up because hes often ordered to sweep the police station without bothering to grab his id card from the hotel he got into the van only to be arrested under the beggary lawfirsttime offenders without id cards are usually released from the beggars home in seven days which is the average amount of time it takes a probation officer to investigate and report to the judge but those caught a second time can be put away for 13 years thereafter the sentence goes up to ten years and can be extended indefinitely for the incurably helpless like 75yearold abraham who was arrested in 1978 he suffers from tremors has no family and doesnt want to leave the homein mumbai of the 5699 men arrested last year only 81 were detained for a year because the current judge insists that evidence of beggary prior arrests and family abandonment be presented before