Sewage deaths: Gujarat High Court refuses to quash FIR against officer

Source: dnaindia.com

The Gujarat High Court has refused to quash an FIR against the chief officer of Bavla Nagar Palika, Siddharth Patel, for the death of three persons on March 31 while cleaning a drain. Patel was booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and for employing manual scavengers in contravention of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act 2013.

Notably, the chief officer had given a contract to one Aarohi Enterprise in June 2018 for cleaning of drains in Bavla for two years. In the process of cleaning of drains, two labourers and a contractor died on March 31 and an FIR was registered against many including Patel for the deaths.

Interestingly, to escape the charges, Patel tried to convince the court with an argument that the day on which the incident took place was a Sunday (holiday for government employees) and therefore, he is not responsible for the unnatural deaths. He also contended that he cannot be held responsible for the negligent acts of the contractor, who was entrusted with the work of cleaning drains in Bavla. He also claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the case.

Following the submissions by Patel, the court remarked that the matter is at an initial stage of investigation. The bench also remarked that there is a specific prohibition to engage or employ a person for the purpose of manual scavenging through any contract or agreement, and despite such specific bar under the Act, Patel had entered into an agreement with Aarohi Enterprise.

“Prima facie, the offence punishable under Section 8 of the Act has been made out and therefore, the court is not inclined to entertain the present application at the initial stage of investigation. Accordingly, it is rejected,” the court said. Notably, Section 8 prescribes a jail term extending up to two years and fine up to Rs 1 lakh for engaging or employing, either directly or indirectly, a manual scavenger.

Govt criticised for manual scavenging

A coordinate bench of the high court which is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) questioning the government’s lack of intent to put an end to manual scavenging had recently come down heavily on the state directing it to take all possible measures to end the inhuman practice. One of the major grievances of the petitioner in the PIL is that the police always registers such incidents as “accidental deaths” and never book a person under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act.

‘Death occurred on a Sunday, not my fault’

To escape the charges, Siddharth Patel, chief officer of Bavla Nagar Palika, argued in the court saying that the day on which the incident took place was a Sunday (holiday for government employees) and therefore, he is not responsible for the unnatural deaths