04, Dec 2017 | CJP Team

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra has directed the Centre to respond within eight weeks to a PIL calling for the repeal of 119 Central and State laws that discriminate against those afflicted with leprosy, The Hindu reported. Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, which filed the PIL, said the laws discriminate against leprosy in five major ways, including “causing stigmatisation and indignity”, isolating/segregating leprosy patients, as well as blocking their “access to public services”. The bench found that the laws persist in upholding superstitions that the disease is “infectious and has something to do with genetics”.