The Madras High Court on Monday took serious note of a photograph published in The Hindu on October 3, of people involved in manual scavenging at Pondy Bazaar here, and directed Additional Advocate General C. Manishankar to ensure that those responsible were taken to task, and apprise the court of the action taken by Friday.
Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M. Sundar directed the High Court Registry to give to the AAG photocopies of a letter written to Ms. Justice Banerjee by S. Narayanan, a reader of The Hindu , along with the newspaper clipping seeking appropriate action against continuance of the despicable practice of manual scavenging despite a statutory ban since 1993.
The Chief Justice broached the subject during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition, filed by A. Narayanan of ChangeIndia, seeking a direction to the State government to pay interest for belated payment of compensation of ₹10 lakh, fixed by the Supreme Court in March 2014, to the families of each of those who had died due to manual scavenging.
‘Spare none’After chiding her personal staff for not bringing the letter to her notice at the earliest, the Chief Justice said it was shocking to note the prevalence of manual scavenging “right in the heart of the city.” She stressed that there should be a total ban on such a practice and neither private individuals nor public officials should be spared if they defy the ban.
Later, the Bench directed the State government to file a status report by Friday on steps taken by it so far for rehabilitation of people involved in manual scavenging in accordance with the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act of 2013 as well as the directives issued by the apex court in 2014.
