Anadi Tewari
In a suo motu case of the tragic deaths of sanitation workers during manual scavenging at Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on April 15, the Orissa High Court on Monday (April 19) has ordered for compensation of Rs.10 lakhs each is disbursed forthwith to the family of each of the sanitation workers who died in the tragic incidents.
The bench of Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar and Justice B.P. Routray took suo motu cognizance of the incidents, involving egregious violations of the mandatory provisions contained in the The Prohibition of Employment As Manual Scavengers And Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
“The shameful practice of making persons belonging to the underprivileged and poorest sections of Indian society undertake the hazardous manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks continues unabated notwithstanding the enactment of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (‘PEMSR Act‘). It shocks the judicial conscience, as it should the society‘s collective conscience”, the High Court prima facie observed.
Background of the Case
Incident 1:
As per the reports of ‘New Indian Express’ dated April 16, one of the sanitation workers entered the sewer line, which was over 15 feet deep, became unconscious inside the tank due to asphyxiation. Two other sanitation workers went inside to rescue him, but they too fell unconscious.
All the three workers were brought out with the help of firefighters and rushed to the SCB
Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack. The hospital authorities declared two of them, brought dead, whereas the third one was stated to be in a critical condition. All of them were in the age group of 30 to 35 years.
Incident 2:
In another tragic incident on March 19 in the capital city of Odisha, when two sanitation workers engaged in the maintenance of a sewage tank, died of asphyxiation. Both of them were rescued by Orissa fire brigade service, but were brought dead to the local hospital.
Observation of the Court
While referring to the provision of the untouchability under the Constitution of India, the bench went on to observe that:
“When Article 17 was written into the Indian Constitution more than seventy years ago, abolishing untouchability, forbidding its practice in any form and declaring that enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law, it was with the hope that the practice of untouchability in general and manual scavenging in particular would not continue in a free and independent India.”
In order to ensure that the provisions of the PEMSR Act and the directions of the Supreme Court in Safai Karmachari Andolan v. Union of India (2014) 11 SCC 224 are implemented in letter and spirit, this case is ought to be registered.
The Court also considers it necessary to examine the various legal issues that arise from such incidents, including the applicability of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Rules thereunder.
The State of Odisha will file a separate affidavit before the next date listing out the steps it has taken thus far to implement, in letter and spirit, the various provisions of the
PEMSR Act and the Rules thereunder, as well as the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, including statistics relating to deaths of sanitation workers since 1993, the compensation paid in such respect and whether the identified manual scavenger and/or sewer/septic tank cleaner has been rehabilitated and whether the parties who violated the law have been prosecuted and punished according to law.
The Court has further requested the Secretary, Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA) to immediately contact the family of the victims, both in Cuttack and in Bhubaneswar, if they need legal assistance.
The matter is next listed on May 10, 2021.
Meanwhile, the Court has issued notice to a total of 8 opposite parties in the instant case. The Court has also ordered for criminal law related proceedings in regard to the two incidents as required under the PEMSR Act. In case any of the victims belongs to the SC or ST, where the relevant provisions of the SC & ST (POA) Act and the Rules thereunder require to be activated, the Court observed while issuing directions.
Case: In Re: Death of Sanitation Workers v. State of Odisha and Others [SUO MOTU W.P.(C) No.14589 of 2021-PIL]