New Delhi, Dec 07: A UN report has lauded Indian legal system for exhibiting sensitivity towards people living with HIV/Aids (PLWHA) and said India is among the topmost countries in terms of number of HIV/Aids-related litigation. "Apart from US and Australia, the highest number of HIV/Aids-related litigation has perhaps taken place in India," UNDP's regional human development report: HIV/Aids and development in South Asia 2003, said.


"There are several cases related to HIV/Aids pending in Indian courts and the courts are exhibiting a certain sensitivity ...," the report said.


In many cases they have passed orders of "suppression" of identity so as to enable the concerned persons to take recourse to the legal system without fear of being identified and stigmatised, it said.


Citing an example, the report said in November 2002, the Delhi High Court issued notices to both the Union and the Delhi governments seeking their replies on the refusal of several city hospitals to treat an HIV-positive person.

Notices were also issued to several hospitals where the person had gone for treatment, only to be turned away, it said.

Similarly, the country's lawyers' collective had challenged the termination of the services of a worker in 1997 on the ground of being HIV-positive, the report said adding that the worker was reinstated.


Bureau Report