On Tuesday, November 15, 2022, the division bench of the Delhi High Court expressed its displeasure with the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) failure to comply with an order directing it to pay Rs. 10 lakh to the families of two men who died in September after inhaling toxic gases inside a sewer.

The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, held: "We are dealing with people who are working for us, so that our life is made comfortable. And this is the manner and method they are being dealt with by the authorities…very unfortunate."

The counsel for the DDA told the court that it was the responsibility of the Delhi Government to pay the amount and that the DDA was not responsible for doing so.

The bench noted that "not even a single rupee" was paid to the families of the deceased by the DDA, despite the fact that the question of liability could have been decided at a later stage. It was noted, however, that the Delhi government had paid each family Rs. 1 lakh on September 21.

The court noted the Delhi Government's submission that the DDA was attempting to mix up the compensation paid as a result of the Supreme Court's 2014 ruling in Safai Karamchari Andolan & Ors v. Union of India. The government claimed that the compensation it is paying separately is based on a cabinet decision made on March 5, 2020.

The Center recently informed the Delhi High Court that, as a result of various initiatives implemented by the government, the number of tragic accidents while cleaning sewers and septic tanks has decreased significantly.

The short affidavit was filed by the central government through its Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in a PIL filed in 2019 by Advocate Amit Sahni, who sought strict compliance with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 in order to prevent deaths caused by manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewers.