Supreme Court: In a matter concerning manual scavenging, the Division Bench comprising Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar, JJ., directed the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) to file a reply to the applications, explaining why manual scavenging and hazardous cleaning were still being carried out using manual labour, thereby endangering workers’ lives and failing to provide them with proper safety gear, as evidenced by the photographs annexed to the applications.
The Bench noted with concern that the photographs showed instances of manual scavenging and hazardous cleaning being carried out at Gate F of the Supreme Court itself. It, therefore, directed that the officer concerned from the Public Works Department (‘PWD’) file a reply to the aforementioned applications.
The Court directed that the EDMC be made a party-respondent to the proceedings. It ordered that the EDMC be represented by its Chief Executive Officer. The Court further instructed that notice be issued to the newly impleaded party-respondent without delay.
The Court had made it explicit that, should a satisfactory reply not have been received by the next hearing, there would be no option but to order the registration of an FIR against such officer(s) who had exposed the workers to life-threatening risk.
Finally, the matter was listed for re-hearing on 10-09-2025.
Also Read:
Manual Scavenging and Partial Implementation
Inside Supreme Court verdict on the eradication of Manual Scavenging in India
[Dr. Balram Singh v. Union of India, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1672, decided on 06-08-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
Amicus Curiae: Mr. K. Parameshwar, Sr. Adv.Assisted by: Mr. Ravigururaj, Adv. , Mr. Srinivas P., Adv.
Counsel for the parties : Petitioner-in-person, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G., Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR, Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv., Ms. Shradha Deshmukh, Adv., Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Adv., Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv., Ms. Eliza Barr, Adv., Ms. Disha Singh, AOR, Mr. Azmat Hayat Amanullah, AOR, Ms. Rebecca Mishra, Adv., Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR, Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv., Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv., Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv., Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv., Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv., Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv.2 ,Ms. Chitransha Singh Sikarwar, Adv., Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR, Mr. Kumar Nikhil, Adv., Mr. Kumar Abhishek, Adv., Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR, Ms. Shraddha Chirania, Adv., Mrs., Aiswarya Bhati, A.S.G., Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv., Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Sr. Adv., Mr., Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR, Ms. Shradha Deshmukh, Adv., Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv., Ms. Shreya Jain, Adv., Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR, Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv., Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv., Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv., Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv., Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.
Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv., Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv., Ms. Mrinal Elker Mazumdar, Adv., Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv., Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, Adv., Mr. Mukesh K Verma, Adv., Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv., Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G., Ms., Swarupma Chaturvedi, Sr. Adv., Ms. Shradha Deshmukh, Adv., Mr. Aman Shukla, Adv., Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv., Mr. Purnendu Bajpai, Adv., Ms. B.L.N. Shivani, Adv., Ameyvikrama Thanvi, Adv., Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR, Ms. Jayna Kothari, Sr. Adv., Dr. Anindita Pujari, Sr. Adv., Ms. Aparna Mehrotra, Adv., Mr. Mrityunjay Pathak, Adv., Mr. Shaileshwar Yadav, Adv., Mr. Piyush Dwivedi, AOR, Mr. Shireesh Kumar Singh, Adv.3, Mr. Pawan Reley, AOR, Mr. Akshay Lodhi, Adv., Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Adv., Ms. Simran Singh, Adv., Mr. Tanish Rawat, Adv., Mr. Utkarsh, Adv., Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, AOR, Ms. Ankeeta Appanna, Adv., Ms., Madhura Chitnis, Adv., Mr. Sarim Naved, Adv., Mr. Saurabh Sagar, Adv., Mr. Zeeshan Ahmad, Adv., Mr. Ashirwad Singh, Adv., Ms. Sugandha Anand, AOR, Mr. Sanjay Jain, AOR, Ms. Abiha Zaidi, AOR, Mr. Hamza Lakdawala, Adv., Ms. Suriti Chowdhary, Adv., Mr. Pritam Raman Giriya, Adv., Mr. Anuj Manoj Bhave, Adv., Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR
Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv., Ms. Mallika Agarwal, Adv., Mr. Anand Sanjay M. Nuli, Sr. Adv., Mr. Akhila Wali, Adv., Mr. Shivraj Singh, Adv., M/S. Nuli & Nuli, AOR, Mr. Ashish Wad, Adv., Mr. Manoj Wad, Adv., Mr. Sandeep Mohan Patil, Adv., Ms. Swati Arya, Adv., Ms. Akriti Arya, Adv., M/S. J S Wad And Co, AOR, Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR, Ms. Nivedita Nair, Adv., Ms. Surbhi Singh, Adv., Ms. Nandini Sen Mukherjee, AOR, Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv., Mr. Rohit Bansal, Adv.4, Mr. Varij Nayan Mishra, Adv.
