On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court issued a notice regarding a public interest litigation that challenges the exclusion of sewer and septic tank cleaners engaged in hazardous cleaning from the scope of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, along with the associated Rules.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora has requested a response from the Union Government, represented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Delhi Government within a timeframe of eight weeks.
The plea has been lodged by a septic tank cleaner and a daily wage laborer. Their brother, who was also a sewer cleaner, tragically lost his life in 2017 while carrying out sewer cleaning duties in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi.
The next hearing for the case is scheduled for July 4th.
The PIL aims to invalidate Sections 2(1)(g), 13, 14, 15, 16, and 39 of the 2013 Act, along with the associated Rules, on grounds of their alleged infringement of Article 14, 17, 21, and 24 of the Constitution of India. Additionally, it requests a directive for the governments to undertake the rehabilitation of sewer cleaners and ensure that they receive all the benefits accorded to manual scavengers under the Act.
“It (impugned provisions) is violative of Article 14 because it is not only manifestly arbitrary but also against the principles of reasonable classification, as it excludes from its purview the “Sewer cleaner and Septic tank cleaner doing hazardous cleaning” as they also clean, carry, dispose of and handle human excreta from more dangerous places and deprive them of the benefit of identification and rehabilitation provided under Section 11 to Section 16 of the MS Act, 2013 and MS Rules, 2013 and MS Rules, 2013 and other beneficial schemes brought by the government from time to time,” the plea states.
Furthermore, the petition contends that the challenged provisions permit manual scavenging and the cleaning of sewers and septic tanks either manually or with protective devices, thus perpetuating practices akin to untouchability, in violation of Article 17 of the Constitution of India.
Additionally, the petition raises a challenge against Explanation (a) of Section 2(1)(g) of the 2013 Act, contending that it exclusively caters to regular or contractual employees, neglecting individuals engaged in cleaning human excreta as daily wage workers or temporary laborers, as well as those involved in the traditional Jajmani system.
"The formulation of such a section contradicts the objective of the MS Act, 2013, and there is no justification for granting the government unsound discretion to exempt certain categories from the enforcement of a complete prohibition on Manual Scavenging," the petition asserts.
Title: Kallu v. Union of India & Anr.
