Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab

(Established under the Punjab Act 12 of 2006)

A Project Study Submitted on:

Crime and poverty : A detailed Analysis

Supervised By: Submitted by:

Ms. Ivneet walia Bhanuj Neol

Asst. Professor of Law, 19040

RGNUL, Punjab 4th Year, B.A.LL.B.

Group No. 8

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The gratification and elation on the completion of this project will be incomplete without
mentioning all the people who helped to make it possible, whose guidance and
encouragement was valuable to me.

I articulate my thanks to our worthy Vice Chancellor who helped me to inculcate the zeal
for this project.

I express my sincere and heartiest thanks to Ms. Ivneet walia who has been a constant
source of inspiration to me in completing the project to its rightful path. I am immensely
indebted to her for inspiring guidance and kind suggestion in carrying out the project.

I also thank God, though I am not worthy of thanking him, but its inexplicable greatness
on his part to educate me, being with me and taking care of me. Without his guidance I
wouldn’t have been physically and mentally fit to complete this study.

I specially thank my parents who gave me a chance to study in this esteemed university, a
paradise for legal edification and all who supported me directly or indirectly, for
successful completion of the project work.

Last, but not the least; I thank my institution, Rajiv Gandhi National University of
Law, Punjab, for giving me the opportunity for developing the project.

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Introduction

Poverty is an international problem since it affects all nations equally and none of them
can claim to be completely free of it. When we talk about poverty and the poor, a very
basic image of a person who is poor comes to mind: a person who is poor would not have
enough money and resources to sustain a good life. Poverty is also a condition in which a
person is so deprive of basic necessities that he or she may not be able to survive after a
period of time or might die from hunger.

This viewpoint is economic. But when we look at poverty through a legal perspective, we
can see that it goes beyond a lack of money and food. Poor people face a variety of
problems, including being denied access to basic human rights, being ignorant of their
own rights, being taken advantage of by other groups in society, social injustices, and a
lack of opportunities for education and employment. Over time, India as a country came
to the realisation that poverty should not be defined solely in terms of income, but rather
in terms of “human poverty,” or from a wider viewpoint.

Being a victim of crime and being involved in the criminal system is one of the worst
things about being poor. The idea that they are more likely than the wealthy to become
victims of crimes permeates poor people’s daily lives. Since the law only seeks to punish
those who have broken the law, it is irrelevant whether the criminal was poor or faced
other pressures that led to his or her involvement in crime. In this way, the poor are
frequently both perpetrators and victims. By taking certain actions, such as promoting
education and employment, it is possible to stop this kind of poor people getting involved
in crime.

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The Indian government and various international organisations are aiming to end global
poverty. India is dedicated to the advancement of its citizens as a welfare state. The
Indian Constitution includes provisions for the poor’s improvement, but merely passing a
legislation won’t suffice; it must be carried out responsibly and with respect. There are a
number of rules created through legislation that are advantageous for the poor, including
laws against gender discrimination, employment laws, and laws preventing child labour.

STUDY QUESTIONS

The following research questions are addressed in the study:

1. How do the poor’s lack of legal knowledge cause them to be exploited?
2. Why are the impoverished more likely to commit crimes and why are they more
involved in them?
3. How can the poor be given legal emancipation?
4. What steps has the Indian government made to combat poverty and problems
associated with it?

ASPECTS OF POVERTY

Poverty is a violation of people’s dignity since it denies them options and chances. It
denotes a basic inability to contribute to society in a meaningful way. It entails not having
enough to feed and clothe a family, access to credit, a place to go to school or a doctor’s
office, a plot of land to produce one’s own food on, or a job to support oneself. It entails
uncertainty, helplessness, and exclusion of people, homes, and communities. It denotes a
propensity for aggression and frequently entails living in precarious surroundings without
access to sanitary facilities or clean water.

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Administrative Committee on Coordination adopts statement of commitment for
measures to end poverty [20 May 1998]

One can distinguish between two sorts of poverty. i.e. Relative poverty: People who fall
into this category of poverty do not lack for anything, but they are unable to enjoy the
same standard of living as the majority of people in the nation. This situation may be
permanent, but it typically changes as the economy develops.

Absolute poverty, as the name implies, occurs when a family’s income falls below a
threshold, making it practically difficult for them to meet their fundamental needs. Even
if the country is expanding, the person who fits into this category is still in poverty.

It is abundantly evident from the definition above that poverty is a violation of human
rights. The fundamental liberties that every human being is endowed with are known as
human rights. One of the main causes of poverty is addressed by the ideals of equality
and nondiscrimination. Discrimination can both contribute to and hinder efforts to end
poverty.

For instance, the varna system in India prevented a certain segment of the population
from improving in terms of education, employment, and living standards, which
ultimately caused them to remain in a state of poverty for all time.

Caste system India is still to blame for the large number of poor people in our nation.
Even fundamental requirements like a place to live, food, money, clothes, and
employment are denied to the poor. However, poverty, in Amartya Sen’s opinion, is the
denial of the rights and freedoms to realise one’s potential. Sen contends that a person’s
freedom to achieve good health requires two things: first, that their health is not harmed

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by others (negative freedom), and second, that communities and governments establish an
enabling institutional framework for good health. [1]

The fact that India is a populous nation that is growing faster than its economy is also one
of the main causes of poverty in that country. India is not an exception: a nation can only
have the right amount of resources, not too many. Due to some traditions in our nation,
rural residents still feel that a larger family equals a higher income, although this is
untrue. Large families eventually result in lower per capita income values and, as a result,
a lower level of life. It is inevitable that more people will be able to take use of the scarce
resources as more people compete for them. The resources available here could be in the
shape of job openings, educational possibilities, food, etc.

A better level of life Is followed by a better job thanks to quality education. Having a
better job is a far-off dream for a poor person because they virtually ever receive basic
schooling. People in rural areas sometimes choose to keep their kids out of school in
favour of working in the fields to support their families, which increases the likelihood
that they will grow up in poverty. If education is supplied in a disadvantaged area, it
tends to favour the male population.

In contrast to a guy of the same age and class, a person’s chances of getting educated are
still quite low if they are poor, and even lower if they are a woman. However, upon
independence, the Indian government and those who drafted the constitution recognised
the need for women to have rights to development in all spheres. Additionally, provisions
were developed for the kids to receive a fundamental education up until a specific age.
Offering high-quality education is seen as a widely accepted way to break the cycle of
poverty.

A poor person suffers from many other effects in addition to all of these problems. For
example, homelessness because they lack a suitable place to live, lack of access to
healthcare and medical care, which causes many poor people to die young from chronic
illnesses, exploitation by wealthy people because the poor are more susceptible to their

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snares, stress from lack of employment and money, which further reduces the
productivity of the poor, and lack of medical care.

Inequality in India

A society where the vast majority of people are impoverished and miserable cannot
possibly be prosperous and joyful.Smith, Adam

Population and poverty are two things that India has in plenty. India has a large
population and is often referred to as a country rich in human resources, but if the
population trend continued to rise, India would surely be referred to as a country rich in
poverty. India’s deep-seated poverty was made worse by 200 years of British rule.

India’s historical causes of poverty

In the colonial era, India had a large population of impoverished people, but few of them
were starving, indicating that people had access to adequate resources to meet their
fundamental needs. As a result, poverty was reduced to a single issue—hunger and food
—and became a one-dimensional phenomenon. But since food cannot be the main
concern—as we all know—poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon, India was given this
label.

The British then Implemented strict tax collection policies that are very harmful for the
poor, such as those who were unable to pay the taxes due to certain circumstances, like
famine, and were either forced to give up their lands or become slaves of British officers
until the taxes were paid, which created a vicious cycle. Zamindari laws were also passed,

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which made the situation even worse. As a result, both the poor and the middle class got
poorer. But poverty wasn’t inherent or natural; rather, it was a direct result of British
control, particularly the land revenue policy. Further, law and order was never favourable
to the underprivileged members of society.

The term “urban poor” refers to a new stratum of the poor that emerged in the years
following independence. Even if there were urban poor before independence, they were
not as much of a problem. Following independence, cities rapidly expanded, and more
people moved from rural to urban areas in search of employment or a higher standard of
living. The area available to house them shrinks as more and more individuals undertake
this migration. Due to the current shortage of cheap housing, migrants established slums,
or informal settlements, and were forced to live in these conditions by the lack of
opportunities and skill development among the working-age population.

Indian Constitution for the Poor

One of the main questions is how the law can help fight poverty. The Indian Constitution,
which is the country’s primary source of law, was crafted with the understanding that
every citizen has a fundamental right to development and advancement, and as a result,
provisions for this have been provided. Although the Indian Constitution does not
specifically address poverty, it is supported by the Preamble, the Fundamental Rights,
and the Directive Principles of State Policy.

Article 21 Protection of life and personal liberty: No one’s life or personal liberty may be
taken away from them unless legal procedures are followed. Here, life involves more than
just getting by; it also means living honourably. Additionally, the right to life is a human
right, and neither the state[2] nor its inhabitants are permitted to violate it unless specific
legal procedures are followed. According to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Board of
Trustees of the Port of Bombay v. Dilipkumar Raghavendranath Nandkarni[3], the right
to life guaranteed by article 21 also covers the right to a living.

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Article 39A [5]- Equal justice and free legal aid: The State must ensure that the
functioning of the legal system promotes justice, on the basis of equal opportunity, and
must, in particular, provide free legal aid, through appropriate legislation or schemes or in
any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any
citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. Each side to the dispute has a legal
right to appear in court to submit their case, but doing so entails paying court costs and
retaining the services of an experienced attorney.

Since the poor find it difficult to pay high fees, Article 39 of the COI was amended to
state that those in need of legal assistance should receive it free of charge. This will
ensure that all citizens have an equal opportunity to appear in court and that no citizen is
denied justice because of their inability to pay.

In Sheela Barse v. State of Maharashtra, the court found that it is essential to offer poor
people who have been arrested free legal assistance so they can defend themselves in
court as it is their fundamental right under Articles 14 and 21, in addition to Article 39A.
The court further ruled that inmates should be permitted to consult with any attorney
chosen by the legal committee regarding any issue.

Articles 15 and 16 of the COI give the state the authority to make particular arrangements
for the socially and economically disadvantaged castes and groups. They include
provisions for reserving seats in state-owned institutions and government positions for
members of society who are less advantaged socially, educationally, and economically.
In addition to all of the aforementioned recommendations, government should develop
policies and programmes for its citizens in accordance with their own nation and not
simply copy policies from other countries and implement them in our own because they
worked in that nation. Our nation’s needs may differ from those of other nations.

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Crime and poverty
Aristotle first mentioned the connection between poverty and crime when he said that
poverty is the origin of crime. This phrase succinctly expresses the connection between
the two ideas. There are two techniques to research the connection:
Poor people are more inclined to commit crimes.
The disadvantaged experience crime.

A vicious circle exists between unemployment, poverty, and crime. A person who lives in
poverty often lacks access to a quality education, which might result in unemployment or
even criminal activity. The opposite is also possible, for example, a person with a
criminal record can find it difficult to find employment, keeping him in poverty.

Why are criminals more likely to be poor?

We must first comprehend the connection between poverty and education before we can
fully explore this issue. Children from low-income families rarely have access to a
quality education, and as a result, adults from the same group are denied stable
employment. Even if children start attending school at a young age, circumstances force
them out of the classroom and force them to work to support their family, keeping them
in the same social class as their parents.

People who are poor typically lack access to many things that others take for granted.
One of the reasons why the poor engage in such illegal activity is because they desire to
obtain the opportunities and resources of which they have been long-deprived. To satisfy
their needs, they turn to illegal means, which has caused them to commit crimes
including rape and attempted rape as well as burglary, theft, and robbery. The judicial
system does not view them as victims of poverty; rather, it views them from a criminal

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perspective because they had committed the crime and met all of the requirements for
becoming a criminal.

Why do the impoverished fall prey to crimes?

In comparison to other people who are in good financial standing, the impoverished are
more prone to become victims of crimes. They can become victims of crimes
occasionally as a result of other people’s avarice; they are employed as a tool. For
instance, a drug dealer who wants to sell drugs may need someone who is willing to risk
being prosecuted if found. In this case, the dealer may give a poor person a set sum of
money in exchange for their cooperation.

Even an honourable SC judge once stated that poverty is the primary driver of crime.
Crime will continue to exist as long as there is poverty. In India, the United States, or any
other nation, the majority of inmates are poor. You cannot eradicate crime unless you
establish a social and political system that guarantees everyone a decent existence, with
adequate job, money, access to healthcare, an adequate education, and wholesome food
for the kids. We want to improve the political and economic climate in the nation for
everyone[7].

The one thing that unites all impoverished people—regardless of their income levels,
caste, class, or everything else that makes them unique—is poverty. People are pretty
clear about what they want; all that has to be done is for legislators or policymakers to
give them that power. Sentence repeat offenders to prison, but also consider shortening
their sentences to protect the related. Most often, a vicious circle of crime and legal
proceedings involves poor people, who are most deprived of their basic necessities and
opportunities for education. It frequently happens that people use the impoverished as
pawns out of pure avarice. The lack of resources and money causes the poor to agree or
occasionally accidentally do things that land them in legal problems.

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They are found guilty and imprisoned because they broke the law. The state made the
decision to provide free legal aid for the underprivileged in order to protect their interests.
However, most judges or solicitors are unwilling to provide free services to anyone.
Therefore, a strict legal system that not only enacts laws but also ensures that they are
implemented is one of the prerequisites for the empowerment of the poor.

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