HIV+ people cannot be denied jobs: HC

January 23, 2004

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2004 05:55:01 AM ]

MUMBAI: In a major judgment welcomed by AIDS activists, the Bombay

High Court directed the New India Assurance company to bestow

permanent employee status on an HIV-positive woman on compassionate

grounds.

A Bench comprising Justices A P Shah and S C Dharmadhikari ruled last

Friday that denying employment to a person on grounds of his or her

HIV-positive status was discriminatory and violated the person's

constitutional rights.

The woman, who has three minor children, had applied to New India

Assurance for a job in 1999, after her husband's death. Her husband,

who was employed with the company when he died, had tested HIV

positive in 1997.

The company refused to employ her after she too tested positive.

Aggrieved, she moved the court in 1999. The court had at that time

directed the company to appoint her on a temporary basis, which it

did.

The judges, who disposed of the petition, observed that merely having

the constitutional right to earn a living was of little use if it was

violated.

The judgment, say activists, is a blow for thousands of HIV-positive

persons.

Mumbai alone has between 3.5 to four lakh HIV-infected people,

approximately 10 per cent of India 's HIV cases

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