The Supreme Court has issued a stern directive to the municipal corporation heads of Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, demanding their appearance to explain the continued occurrences of deaths due to manual scavenging. Despite a national ban on this hazardous practice, the court highlighted ongoing violations and questioned the absence of accountability.
A bench led by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia reviewed the efforts taken since the court’s October 2023 judgment, which called for immediate actions to terminate manual scavenging and mandated an increased ex-gratia payment of ₹30 lakh for the families of those who died while cleaning sewers, drains, and septic tanks. The review included scrutiny of the affidavits from six metropolitan cities, revealing a universal denial of ongoing manual scavenging, except from Bengaluru which failed to respond at all.
Discrepancies in the municipal responses were evident as Senior Advocate K Parmeshwar, serving as amicus curiae, presented alarming statistics from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). These figures showed 43 deaths related to manual scavenging from January 2024 to January 2025 across India, including several in the cities under scrutiny.
The justices expressed frustration over the evasive and non-committal replies from the city officials, especially after explicit instructions had been laid out in their previous judgment. “You are saying there are no deaths. After our judgment, clauses which are opposed to our judgment automatically go. How is it that despite our judgment, there are deaths?” questioned the bench, which also includes Justice Aravind Kumar.
Specific instances of recent deaths in Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad were highlighted, with no satisfactory explanations provided by the local bodies. The court was particularly critical of the lack of response from Bengaluru’s municipal corporation and summoned its commissioner for failing to file the required affidavit.
Furthermore, the court is contemplating initiating criminal proceedings against officials or contractors under whose supervision these fatalities occurred, emphasizing the need for accountability and adherence to the law.
In parallel discussions, the court also addressed related issues in Chennai and Mumbai. The Chennai municipal corporation has purportedly issued new guidelines post-judgment to prevent any human entry into septic tanks and is transitioning to mechanized cleaning methods. Meanwhile, in Navi Mumbai, incidents of sewer deaths were reported, which the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) lawyer denied occurring within its jurisdiction. Both corporations were instructed to submit detailed affidavits clarifying the use of mechanized cleaning practices.
The court’s frustration was palpable when addressing the response from Kolkata’s municipal corporation, with the bench criticizing the standard deflection of responsibilities across departments. The Chief Secretary of West Bengal was ordered to provide a detailed explanation regarding the jurisdiction and oversight under which the recent deaths occurred.
