Dr. Balram Singh filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition on 31 January 2023 concerning the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act 1993, and the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act 2013 (the Acts). The petition sought directions for respondents to implement the provisions laid out in both Acts.
On 11 June 2023, CLPR filed an impleadment application on behalf of Thamate, an organisation for rural empowerment. CLPR, representing Thamate as an intervenor in the petition, raised issues regarding the difference of treatment between manual scavengers and workers partaking in hazardous cleaning and requested for a purposive interpretation of the definition of manual scavenging to rationally include anyone involved in cleaning sewers and septic waste.
Addressing this in the judgement on 20 October 2023, the apex Court pronounced that the differentiation cannot be held unconstitutional without a challenge to the provisions. However, even though the statute does not provide rehabilitation for hazardous workers, the constitutional underpinnings of the 2013 Act must work for their benefit. As such, the Court stated that if a worker is utilising protective gear and cleaning waste, aside from what is prescribed in the Act and where minimum protective equipment is not provided, it would amount to forced labour, and they can be rehabilitated.
The two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Aravind Kumar, highlighted various issues, such as inaccuracies in surveys conducted to establish the number of people involved in manual scavenging labour and shortcomings in the implementation and functioning of institutions arising from the Acts.
The judgement issued 14 directions to the respondents, to ensure the proper enactment of provisions in the Acts to eradicate manual scavenging in India.
A few key directions included:
- Taking appropriate measures & framing policies to ensure that manual sewer cleaning is completely eradicated in a phased manner.
- To increase compensation for sewer deaths to 30 lakh rupees.
- Appropriate governments to devise a mechanism to ensure accountability, especially where sewer deaths have occurred.
- The National Commission of Safaikaramcharis (NCSK), the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes (NCST), and the Secretary, Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment must draw modalities for conducting the National Survey in three months, which will ideally be completed in one year.
- Relevant respondents to set up scholarships for dependants of sewer victims.
On 30 January 2024, the Union filed a Status Report outlining compliance measures taken in accordance with the Court’s directions. On 5 March 2024, CLPR filed a response to the Status Report, highlighting the Union’s inadequacy in complying with the Court’s directions, which, in effect, led to the undermining of the judgement.
Strongly criticising the Union’s inaction and the shortfall to the directions issued, on 11 December 2024, the division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Aravind Kumar ordered the Union to file another status report along with the reasons for the shortfall and the State-wise breakups.
On 29 January 2025, the division bench ordered to stop manual scavenging in 6 metropolitan cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The next hearing is on 19.02.2025.