Manual scavenging | Register FIRs against Commissioners of Corporations, Municipalities and Panchayat Unions, orders Madras High Court

Madras High Court orders criminal cases against officials for manual scavenging deaths, increases compensation, and aims for eradication by 2026.

In a significant verdict, the Madras High Court has ordered that henceforth criminal cases must be registered against Commissioners of Corporations, Municipalities and Panchayat Unions if deaths or any disability is reported within their territorial jurisdiction due to manual scavenging.

First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad said, currently, First Information Reports (FIRs) were being registered only in cases of deaths and that too “by identifying a convenient scapegoat, typically a lowly employee of a contractor.”

“Filing FIRs only against the contractors is not sufficient. The FIR should be lodged against the head of the local body in question may be the Panchayat, Municipality, Municipal Corporation etc... The heads of the local bodies cannot get away scot free,” the Bench observed.

“In cases arising in Chennai, the senior oifficers of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) must also be arrayed as accused,” the Bench ordered. It insisted on filing periodical reports before the High Court on such FIRs filed in connection with manual scavenging.

Passing interim orders on a 2017 public interest litigation petition filed by Safai Karamchari Andolan, represented by Senior Advocate Srinath Sridevan, the judges made it clear that cleaning of septic tanks across the State must be done only through local bodies which must have dedicated officers to attend to such work.

“All septic tanks must be cleaned once every year and the local body must maintain a record and find households and other premises that do not empty every year,” the Bench said and insisted that the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules must have provisions for both future and legacy septic tanks.

After finding that the compensation for the deaths due to manual scavenging had been increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹30 lakh through a Government Order issued on January 23, 2024; the Bench ordered that the compensation for those who had died since the filing of the PIL petition in 2017 must be enhanced from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh.