Manual Scavenging Deaths: Pay 20 Lakh More To Workers' Families, Delhi Told

The Delhi High Court has asked the city government to make an endeavour to pay additional Rs 20 lakh to the families of workers, who lost their lives in manual scavenging, in pursuance to a Supreme Court's verdict.

The high court said it is well settled that when a person approaches a court and gets a declaration of law in his favour, it is expected that the State shall extend the same benefit to all the similarly situated persons without forcing those persons to approach the court of law.

"This court expects that the State will endeavour to pay the balance of Rs 20 lakh to all similarly placed persons instead of forcing the family members of persons who have lost their lives in manual scavenging to approach this Court by filing writ petitions," Justice Subramonium Prasad said.

Applying the same principle, the high court allowed a petition by several widows seeking direction to the Delhi government to pay them Rs 20 lakh additional compensation each in terms of the top court's 2023 judgment.

It was stated in the plea that the Delhi government under its policy has given Rs 10 lakh to the family of the persons who have died in between, including the petitioners.

The top court had directed that the compensation in cases of sewer deaths must be increased to Rs 30 lakh from Rs 10 lakh. In cases of permanent disablement arising from sewer operations, it had directed the increase of compensation to Rs 20 lakh and not less than Rs 10 lakh for other forms of disablement.

"In the event, dependents of any victim have not been paid an such amount (Rs 30 lakh), the above amount shall be payable to them. Furthermore, this shall be the amount to be hereafter paid, as compensation," the top court had said.

The high court said the petitioners in this case are similarly placed and they ought to have been granted the same benefit of additional Rs 20 lakh in terms of the judgment passed by the top court's decision.

"Resultantly, the writ petition is allowed. The respondents are directed to pay the said amount within a period of six weeks from today," the high court said in its January 29 order.

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