Supreme Court fines PWD ₹5 lakh for using workers to clean sewers outside court

The Supreme Court on Thursday (September 18, 2025) imposed a penalty of ₹5 lakh on the Delhi Government’s Public Works Department (PWD) for violating its orders against manual sewer cleaning after labourers, including a minor, were found clearing drains without protective gear outside the court premises.

A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria pulled up the PWD for flouting its October 2023 directions prohibiting the practice. “It would be reasonable to impose a cost for having undertaken such work, as evidenced by the photographs annexed with this application. Hence, we direct PWD to deposit the sum of ₹5 lakh to the National Commission for Safai Karmacharis within four weeks,” the court said.

The Bench further cautioned that not only those from the PWD but also other officials needed to “wake up from slumber” to ensure compliance with its directions “in letter and spirit.”

Blatant disregard

Senior advocate K. Parameshwar, assisting the court as amicus curiae, submitted that the incident reflected a blatant disregard of binding directions. He pointed out that video footage showed a minor among those deployed for the hazardous task. “The minor was engaged, and it’s specifically recorded in the video. A police complaint was sought to be lodged at Tilak Marg station, but neither the police nor the PWD took appropriate action. This is not merely a labour law violation, rather, it is a breach of constitutional obligations,” he said.

The court said that it appeared that its earlier directions “had not percolated” to the erring officials or were “consciously ignored.” It added that it had made it clear that in the event of any untoward incident, the court would direct the registration of FIRs against the officials concerned.

“At this stage, we desist from doing so for the simple reason that no incident has occurred and to ensure that neither the officials nor the contractor appointed by them allow the worker to enter the drain or soft water drain or sewer without protective gear,” it said.

The court was hearing applications in a public interest litigation petition highlighting the continuing practice of manual scavenging.