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Dr. Balram Singh vs Union of India & Ors.

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2023 INSC 950Decided 20 Oct 2023
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 324 of 2020
S. Ravindra Bhat · Aravind Kumar

Background

The petitioner, a doctor, filed a writ petition under Article 32 seeking full implementation of 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," despite these laws and earlier Supreme Court directions (in Safai Karamchari Andolan, 2014), manual scavenging and deaths of sewer/septic-tank workers continued across India. The petition sought a total ban on manual scavenging along with proper rehabilitation and compensation for affected workers and their families.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court traced the history of manual scavenging as a caste-based, dehumanizing practice and held that the Union and States have a continuing constitutional duty to eradicate it entirely, not merely regulate it. The Court issued extensive, detailed directions: mandatory use of safety gear and criminalizing entry into sewer lines without it; a minimum compensation of Rs. 10 lakh for sewer/septic-tank deaths (and Rs. 10-20 lakh depending on severity for disabilities); accountability mechanisms including contract cancellation for outsourced sanitation work that leads to deaths; a nationwide survey of manual scavengers to be completed within specified timelines; involvement of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, NALSA, and state/district legal-aid bodies in rehabilitation and compensation disbursal; and creation of a public information portal/dashboard tracking sewer deaths and rehabilitation status. The matter was kept pending for further monitoring (listed for 1 February 2024).

Lesson Learnt

Manual scavenging remains illegal and a violation of fundamental rights regardless of how work is contracted out; families of workers who die or are disabled doing sewer/septic-tank work are legally entitled to fixed minimum compensation (Rs. 10-20 lakh), and government agencies/contractors can be held accountable, including losing contracts, for enabling such deaths.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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