Manual Scavenging Spotted Outside Supreme Court, Delhi Government Gets Steep Fine

The Delhi Public Works Department has been fined Rs 5 lakh by the Supreme Court after its labourers were found cleaning sewers outside the court building manually -- a process that is banned in view of the risks it poses to workers. The court said the PWD not only employed workers without safety gear but also employed a minor for the work.

The Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria also warned that if the violations are repeated, a police case will be filed against the officials concerned.

The fine must be deposited with the National Safai Karamchari Commission within four weeks.

The cleaning outside the Gate F of the Supreme Court came to its notice in August after senior advocate K Parameshwara submitted an application. Submitting a video showing the manual sewer cleaning, he told the court that certain responsibilities needed to be fixed, as the court's 2023 directives had been clearly violated.

That the labourers were working without safety equipment became clear from the photographs attached. 

"We are compelled to state that the photographs shown to us show that manual scavenging and hazardous cleaning work is also being carried out at Gate F of this Court," said the judges.

On August 6, the court made the East Delhi Municipal Corporation party to the proceedings and issued a notice. The civic body's Chief Executive Officer was directed to file an affidavit explaining why manual scavenging and hazardous cleaning work is still being carried out by laborers. 

In 2023, in the case of Dr. Balram Singh vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court had issued several directives to stop manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning.

In January 2025, the court clearly ordered the end of this practice in major metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, repeatedly stating that the concerned officials were treating the issue with negligence.