With Report Of One Manual Scavenger Dying Every Five Days, PIL In SC For FIR In Every Such Death Since 1993 [Read Petition]

With one manual scavenger reportedly dying at work every five days despite India having declared manual scavenging illegal in 1993, the Criminal Justice Society of India has moved the Supreme Court seeking initiation of criminal proceedings for culpable homicide not amounting to murder against officials, agencies, contractors or any other person involved in engaging or employing manual. With one manual scavenger reportedly dying at work every five days despite India having declared manual scavenging illegal in 1993, the Criminal Justice Society of India has moved the Supreme Court seeking initiation of criminal proceedings for culpable homicide not amounting to murder against officials, agencies, contractors or any other person involved in engaging or employing manual scavengers resulting in their death at work. The petition prays for directions to the Centre, the states and the Union Territories to bring on record the actual number of persons engaged in manual scavenging and also the number of persons who have died since 1993 while working as manual scavengers so that FIRs can be registered in all such cases under IPC Section 304 read with IPC Section 107/ 119. It is to be noted that on September 25 last year, after the death of six persons who were engaged as manual scavengers, the Chief Minister of Delhi held a meeting with the State-Level Monitoring Committee on manual scavenging which was directed to set standard operating procedures for monitoring private housing complexes/societies where hiring of people for sewer cleaning is concerned and informed that in case of death of a person employed as a manual scavenger, the District Magistrate of the said area would be held responsible and could be penalized u/s 304 of the Penal Code.