The Madras High Court has awarded ₹10 lakh in compensation to the family of a 22-year-old man who tragically lost his life while working as a manual scavenger in Chennai 24 years ago. The Court’s ruling, issued on January 7, highlights the grave human rights violations tied to manual scavenging, calling such deaths “homicide by an insensitive society.”
Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy delivered the judgment, emphasizing that the practice of manual scavenging and the death of workers in such conditions directly contravene basic human rights. “When we, the inhabitants of the city, push everything inside the drains and sewers indiscriminately, it is nothing short of a homicide by an insensitive society. How many more lives do we want to sacrifice before learning that we must treat and maintain our sewers and drains as pristine as our arteries carrying blood?” the Court remarked.
The case concerned the death of a contract worker who was sent into an underground sewer without any protective gear in 2000. Despite the delay in seeking compensation, the Court emphasized that the authorities’ negligence in addressing the matter for over two decades could not be overlooked. The Court also mandated that the compensation be accompanied by an apology from the society for this grave incident.
The father of the deceased, C Kannaiyan, had approached the Court after his repeated attempts to claim compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Act were thwarted. Kannaiyan initially filed his application in 2002, but it was delayed, dismissed, and later restored multiple times before he moved the High Court in 2010.
The Court, in its judgment, underscored the importance of adhering to the Supreme Court’s directive of awarding ₹10 lakh to the families of victims of manual scavenging deaths. “Suffice it to state that one of our fellow human beings had died because of manual scavenging. This violates all tenets of human rights,” Justice Chakravarthy stated.
Case: C Kanniyan vs Deputy Commissioner of Labour – Available on LAWFYI.IO
