Thanks to an order of the Supreme Court, 15 persons who were rescued from bonded labour from a rice mill in Tiruvallur district would get their share in the total of sum of ₹75 lakh that was deposited by two convicts in the court to consider their bail plea.
While hearing a special leave petition moved by the convicts, M. Sivakumar and Munusamy Naidu, who had challenged a judgment of the Madras High Court, a Division Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the bail plea would be considered after the sum is deposited.
On deposit of the sum on Monday, the Bench said it could be disbursed among the workers on pro rata basis on proper identification. “If any worker/victim is no more, his legal heirs will be entitled to the benefit,” it said.
“As the amount has been deposited and the appellants have suffered custody for some period, we are inclined to direct that they shall be enlarged on bail on such terms and conditions to be imposed by the trial judge,” the Bench said.
The Madras High Court had dismissed a criminal appeal that sought to set aside the conviction and sentence passed by Additional District Court, Fast Track Court-III in Tiruvallur in 2010, which had convicted them under Sections 370, 371 and 374 of the IPC and Sections 16, 17 and 20 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and hence the SLP. Though the conviction was against three persons, one of them died during trial.
According to the prosecution, all three persons engaged 15 persons for working in the rice mill near Kadambathur in Tiruvallur district and treated them as bonded labourers.
