Supreme Court: In a writ petition seeking directions to the State of Haryana to provide compensation of ₹30 lakhs to the petitioner — the widow of a sewer worker who died in 2022 while cleaning a sewer — in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment in Balram Singh v. Union of India, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1386, the Division Bench of J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, JJ. issued notice to the State of Haryana. The Court sought the Chief Secretary’s personal presence and an explanation for the State’s failure to comply with its earlier directions regarding the representation filed by the petitioner.
Background
The respective husbands of the two petitioners were employed as sewer cleaners with the Government of Haryana, and the Government of NCT of Delhi respectively. Tragically, both lost their lives due to inhalation of poisonous gases while cleaning sewers or septic tanks—one in the year 2021 and the other in 2022. Invoking the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petitioners have sought direction to both State Governments to pay compensation for the deaths of their husbands, which occurred in the course of their official duties.
Petitioner 1 had submitted a representation dated 15-10-2024 to the Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, requesting appropriate compensation for the death of her husband. Similarly, Petitioner 2 had addressed a representation on the same date to the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi, seeking an enhancement of the compensation awarded to her from ₹10 lakhs to ₹30 lakhs. Both representations were submitted in accordance with the principles outlined in the Supreme Court’s previous judgments.
Analysis and Decision
The Court took note of its order dated 03-01-2025, wherein it was observed that despite the passage of time, the respective Governments have yet to consider the representations submitted by the petitioners and take an appropriate decision regarding their claims for compensation. This inaction persists even though the representations were submitted in accordance with the directions previously issued by the Court and in light of the binding precedent set in Balram Singh (supra).
The Court noted that in its order dated 03-01-2025, it directed the Government of NCT of Delhi and the Government of Haryana to consider the two representations filed by the petitioners and decide them in accordance with law within a period of four weeks, bearing in mind the principles laid down in Balram Singh (supra).
The Court observed that, in compliance with its order dated 03-01-2025, petitioner 1 had submitted a representation to the State of Haryana on 06-01-2025, which was duly received by the Government on 09-01-2025. However, the Court noted with concern that the State of Haryana had failed to pay any attention to the said order or to take any action on the petitioner’s representation. Taking a serious view of this non-compliance, the Court issued notice, returnable on 09-05-2025, and directed the Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, Chandigarh, to remain personally present on the next date of hearing to explain why the Court’s order dated 03-01-2025 was not acted upon and how the representation dated 06-01-2025 had been dealt with, if at all.
[Asha v. State of Haryana, Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 368/2025, decided on 25-04-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For Petitioners: Mr. Pawan Reley, AOR Mr. Akshay Lodhi, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Adv. Ms. Simran Singh, Adv. Mr. Tanish Rawat, Adv
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