Bombay High Court Directs Maharashta To SET Up Reporting Channels For Manual Scavenging Incidents

The Bombay High Court has asked individuals to report incidences of manual scavenging and directed Maharashtra's Department of Social Welfare to establish a dedicated email address for each of the District Level Committees and Vigilance Committees so that citizens may report such incidents. A bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and MM Sathaye further instructed that social media accounts be set up so that people and non-governmental organisations can report instances of manual scavenging to the District Level Committee and Vigilance Committee.

The Bombay High Court handed this decision after the administration stated that all 36 districts of Maharashtra are free of manual scavenging.On August 2 of this year, certificates to that effect were submitted to the Union Government. Advocates Gayatri Singh, Sudha Bhardwaj, Nawaz Dordi, and Deepali Kasul, representing petitioners Shramik Janata Sangh and the father of a worker who died while manual scavenging, opposed the Maharashtra Government's submissions, citing instances of manual scavenging that resulted in the deaths of certain manual scavengers in April 2024.

They also reported sewer cleaning in April and August 2024. The lawyers additionally pointed out that if there was no manual scavenging, as claimed,
why was compensation provided in 81 cases, according to the state record, The government lawyer then stated that the manual scavenging-free state would be implemented in 2022, not today. He stated that an investigation into cases of manual scavenging would be necessary, in addition to efforts to guarantee that manual scavenging does not occur in the first place.

Following this argument, the bench directed the Department of Social Welfare to publish the composition of all committees formed under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, including the names of the members, on its website. The act compels state governments to organize vigilance committees for each district and subdivision. These committees are required to convene at least every three months. The Act's goals include prohibiting manual scavenging, rehabilitating manual scavengers and their families, and dealing with related issues.

The judgment ruled that the website should also include details of all Committee actions made under the Act unless the information is sensitive or covered by any statutory confidentiality limitations. Information should be updated regularly While requesting email addresses and social media handles, the bench stated,

'This will assist the Social Welfare Department in its statutory duty to ensure that manual scavenging does not occur. This is in addition to the duties assigned to the officers.'

Author: 

Aarya Kadam (News Writer) is a final-year BBA student and a creative writer with a passion for current affairs and legal judgments.