'Blot On Nation's Conscience': Calcutta High Court Orders ₹30 Lakh Compensation Each For Death Of Four Manual Scavengers In Sewer

In a strongly-worded judgment, the Calcutta High Court has held the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and other State authorities liable for “serious lacunae and negligence” leading to the death of four labourers and injuries to three others during a sewer-desilting operation in South Kolkata in February 2021. The Court directed payment of enhanced compensation as mandated by the Supreme Court and issued a series of compliance-oriented directions.A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee Das delivered the ruling on a PIL filed by the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), seeking an independent investigation and compensation for the victims' families.BackgroundThe case concerns the death of four labourers engaged in manual sewer cleaning in the Khudghat area under the Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Programme (KEIIP), a project functioning under the KMC. The labourers were reportedly sent inside an underground sewer pit without safety protocols, causing them to inhale toxic fumes and drown in sludge.Despite media reports and RTI requests, no arrests were made in connection with the incident, prompting APDR to move the High Court.KMC opposed the PIL, arguing that APDR was acting with malafides and “seeking cheap publicity.” The Court rejected this line of defence, observing that APDR has been working since 1972 and that the matter involved “fundamental rights of citizens affected by the State's negligence.”“It is shocking that this PIL has to be filed for ensuring the legitimate claims of the persons and family members in terms of the 1993 Act and the slew of directions issued by the Apex Court,” the Court remarked.Court's FindingsThe bench delivered scathing remarks on the persistence of manual scavenging: “It is disheartening to see cases of death and severe injury due to manual scavenging still plying in courts today… its persistence is a blot on the nation's conscience.”The Court noted that neither KMC nor the State had shown that a monitoring committee, mandatory under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, had been constituted.It further recorded that KMC's own inquiry found lapses not only on the part of the contractor but also the Design and Supervision Consultant (DSC), who “did not make any effort to sort out the problem” and failed to ensure proper dewatering of the manhole for two days.Relying on the Supreme Court's 2023 judgment in Dr Balaram Singh v. Union of India, the Court underscored that compensation for sewer deaths must be ₹30 lakhs, not ₹10 lakhs as paid by KMC.The Court further criticised the affidavit of the Regent Park Police Station's officer-in-charge, which merely stated that an FIR under Section 304A IPC was registered against unknown persons.“No subsequent affidavit is filed to show the status of the said investigation,” the Court said, calling the stance an “attempt to wash hands” of responsibility.Allowing the PIL, the Court issued the following detailed directions:- ₹30 lakh compensation to each deceased worker's family (after deducting the ₹10 lakh already paid) within three months.- ₹5 lakh compensation to each of the three injured workers within two months.- The State Government must constitute the monitoring committee mandated under the 2013 Act within 30 days.- The Deputy Commissioner (respondent no. 7) must ensure an independent investigation into the incident and file a report with the Registrar General within four weeks.- State authorities must file a separate compliance report.- State Legal Services Authority must contact the families to ensure disbursal of compensation and provide legal aid.Terming the case an instance of “shocking negligence” and systemic failure, the Court reiterated that manual scavenging in any form is illegal and in violation of the constitutional guarantees of dignity and equality.The writ petition was accordingly allowed and disposed of.Case: ASSOCIATION FOR PROTECTION OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS & ANR. VS THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORSCase No: W.P.A.(P) 259 2021Click here to read order

'Blot On Nation's Conscience': Calcutta High Court Orders ₹30 Lakh Compensation Each For Death Of Four Manual Scavengers In Sewer

Srinjoy Das

The court ordered the formation of a monitoring committee and sought an independent status report into the issue.

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