HIV AIDS Positive Person-Prohibition of discrimination under HIV AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017

HIV AIDS Positive Person-Prohibition of discrimination 

Ministry of Law & Justice has notified The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017 No. 16 of 2017.

As per the HIV AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act, there is a prohibition on discriminating with any one who is:
(i) HIV-Positive; or
(ii) ordinarily living, residing or cohabiting with a person who is HIV-positive person; or
(iii) ordinarily lived, resided or cohabited with a person who was HIV- positive;

The relevant part of the Act are extracted here under:

Prohibition of discrimination
No person shall discriminate against the protected person on any ground including any of the following, namely:

(a) the denial of, or termination from, employment or occupation, unless, in the case of termination, the person, who is otherwise qualified, is furnished with—

(i) a copy of the written assessment of a qualified and independent healthcare provider competent to do so that such protected person poses a significant risk of transmission of HIV to other person in the workplace, or is unfit to perform the duties of the job; and

(ii) a copy of a written statement by the employer stating the nature and extent of administrative or financial hardship for not providing him reasonable accommodation;

(b) the unfair treatment in, or in relation to, employment or occupation;

(c) the denial or discontinuation of, or, unfair treatment in, healthcare services;

(d) the denial or discontinuation of, or unfair treatment in, educational, establishments and services thereof;

(e) the denial or discontinuation of, or unfair treatment with regard to, access to, or provision or enjoyment or use of any goods, accommodation, service, facility, benefit, privilege or opportunity dedicated to the use of the general public or customarily available to the public, whether or not for a fee, including shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment or the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads, burial grounds or funeral ceremonies and places of public resort;

(f) the denial, or, discontinuation of, or unfair treatment with regard to, the right of movement; (g) the denial or discontinuation of, or, unfair treatment with regard to, the right to reside, purchase, rent, or otherwise occupy, any property;

(h) the denial or discontinuation of, or, unfair treatment in, the opportunity to stand for, or, hold public or private office;

(i) the denial of access to, removal from, or unfair treatment in, Government or private establishment in whose care or custody a person may be;

(j) the denial of, or unfair treatment in, the provision of insurance unless supported by actuarial studies;

(k) the isolation or segregation of a protected person;

(l) HIV testing as a pre-requisite for obtaining employment, or accessing healthcare services or education or, for the continuation of the same or, for accessing or using any other service or facility:

Provided that, in case of failure to furnish the written assessment under subclause (i) of clause (a), it shall be presumed that there is no significant-risk and that the person is fit to perform the duties of the job, as the case may be, and in case of the failure to furnish the written statement under sub-clause (ii) of that clause, it shall be presumed that there is no such undue administrative or financial hardship.

Prohibition of Certain Acts
No person shall, by words, either spoken or written, publish, propagate, advocate or communicate by signs or by visible representation or otherwise the feelings of hatred against any protected persons or group of protected person in general or specifically or disseminate, broadcast or display any information, advertisement or notice, which may reasonably be construed to demonstrate an intention to propagate hatred or which is likely to expose protected persons to hatred, discrimination or physical violence

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