Positive Calcutta HC settles HIV patient’s case in 3 days

The Calcutta high court set a new benchmark on Tuesday by settling a property dispute in favour of a 32-year-old HIV+ widow in three days. This comes to the rescue of the Indian judiciary, which had become synonymous with inordinate delays.

The landmark judgment also reveals the humane side of the judiciary. For, it spared the ailing Pampi Das (name changed), a mother of two, the ordeal of doing the rounds of court and spending her savings fighting the case.

Pampi’s husband, who ran a transport business with his brothers, died in 2006, three months after he came to know that he had AIDS.

When her brothers-in-law came to know that Pampi too was HIV+, they refused her share in the business.

Pampi ran from pillar to post for justice till a couple of months ago when she came across Burdwan Society of People Living with HIV/AIDS. The NGO introduced her to Solidarity and Action Against the HIV Infection in India (Saathi).

Saathi promptly filed a petition in the Calcutta high court on Pampi’s behalf.
Justice Shankar Prasad Mitra, who heard the case, found no justification in prolonging the matter beyond absolute necessity and after three hearings, passed an order entitling Pampi to her husband’s share of property, which is one-fifth of Rs50 lakh.

Hailing the judgment, Saathi’s documentation officer Soma Roy Karmakar said, “In most cases, victims have to wait for years to get justice. But Pampi’s case has given us a new hope.”