PIL Case Details

The Odisha High Court took suo moto notice of the tragic deaths of sanitation workers, by asphyxiation, in two incidents dated 19 th March 2021, in Bhubaneshwar and 15 th April 2021, in Cuttack. The court specifically noted that the PIL should not be limited to the above two incidents, but others that have taken place since 1993, as directed by the Supreme Court in para 23.3 of its judgment in Safai Karmachari Andolan v. U nion of India (2014) 11 SCC 224. The Court also considered it necessary to examine the various legal issues that arise from such incidents, including the applicability of the SC/ST POA Act and the Rules thereunder. The court directed compensation to be dis bursed to the family of each sanitation worker who died in the above two tragic incidents, as well as ensure that the relevant criminal law process under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act 2013 and the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 (if applicable) had been set in motion.