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Journalism of Courage
Calcutta HC human rights remark: The Calcutta High Court recently directed the state and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to pay Rs 20 lakh to the families of the sewer workers who died while cleaning a sewer line in south Kolkata.
Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee Das further directed a sum of Rs 5 lakh to each labourer who had sustained injuries during the cleaning drive.
The bench highlighted serious “lacunas and negligence” on the part of the authorities in complying with the direction of the apex court relating to the deaths of sewer workers.
“Manual scavenging is a grave, human rights concern and its persistence is a blot on the nation’s conscience,” the bench noted while calling the issues a “stark reminder” of countries’ ongoing struggle to ensure basic human dignity and rights for all citizens despite significant progress in various fields.
The order also highlighted the purpose of PIL as a “legal action” initiated for the “enforcement of public interest”, particularly when the basic fundamental rights of the public at large are affected.
Justice Das, however, while authoring the judgment, cautioned that courts must examine the petitioner’s “intent and purport” to ensure the litigation is not motivated by malice.
Arguing on behalf of the KMC, advocate Aloke Kumar Ghosh said that the petitioners lacked locus standi and had filed the PIL to gain publicity and cheap popularity.
The petitioners, however, sought an independent investigation into unnatural death and injuries of labourers and requested interim compensation of Rs 16 lakh for the families of the victims and Rs 5 lakh for each injured worker, along with an action against those responsible for the 2021 incident.
The high court directed the Kolkata police commissioner to conduct an independent investigation into the incident and file a report within four weeks. It also ordered the constitution of a state monitoring committee, under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013, within thirty days, to be chaired by the chief minister or a minister nominated by them.
The families of the deceased had earlier received Rs 10 lakh by the contractors of the said project following the direction of a seven-member committee of KMC and KEIIP.
An FIR was subsequently lodged against the contractor company by KMC-KEIIP, and both the partner companies of the contractor were blacklisted for five years and were barred from participating in any future tender of KMC.
The PIL was filed by NGO Association for Protection of Democratic Rights and a civil rights activist following the unnatural deaths of four labourers and injuries to four other labourers who were engaged in de-silting of underground sewer lines in south Kolkata in 2021.
The labourers were working under a project of KEIIP functioning under the KMC.
The court asked the secretary of the State Legal Services Authority to ensure that the family members of the deceased and injured workers receive the compensation ordered on November 21.
