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The high court was hearing a plea filed by family members for claim of compensation The bench observed that it would be incorrect to assume that there is a dispute in every case concerning the claim of compensation for a sewage worker's death.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Sandeep V Marne, has directed the Thane Municipal Corporation to refrain from insisting on the submission of a succession certificate for compensation claims made by the heirs of individuals who have lost their lives due to manual scavenging.
“Therefore, by way of interim order, we direct the Municipal Corporation not to insist upon the heirship /succession certificate in every case, where a death has occurred while cleaning sewars/ septic tanks. In absence of any dispute amongst the claimants, the Municipal Corporation shall conduct preliminary enquiry/verification into the claim by the family members and if the same is found to be genuine, the amount of compensation be released without insisting for procurement of heirship/succession certificate,” the bench observed.
The high court was hearing a petition filed by family members of a sewage worker who died while cleaning sewer tanks. The Thane Municipal Corporation insisted on the submission of an heirship or succession certificate as a prerequisite for compensating the family.
Senior Advocate Gayatri Singh, representing the family members, argued that the Corporation's insistence on obtaining heirship or succession certificates, even in undisputed cases, has led to significant delays in compensating the deceased sewage workers' families. This approach undermines the objectives set by the Apex Court.
On behalf of the corporation, Senior Advocate RS Apte contended that without heirship or succession certificates, there is a risk of compensation being misappropriated by individuals who are not legitimate heirs.
The bench agreed with the contentions presented by Advocate Singh and observed that it cannot be assumed that in every case of a sewage worker's death, while engaged in manual scavenging, there will be competing claims among relatives.
“It cannot be that in every case of death of a sewage worker engaged in manual scavenging there are competing claims amongst relatives. Therefore, the Municipal Corporation cannot insist on production of heirship/succession certificate in every case where there are no disputes amongst the relatives,” the bench observed.
The bench further noted that concerning the pending cases highlighted by the petitioners, the Municipal Corporation shall conduct a thorough verification of the documents submitted before it. If there is no dispute regarding the authenticity of the documents, the Corporation shall release the compensation amount within a period of four weeks from today.
Case title: Shramik Janta Sangh & Ors vs State of Maharashtra & Ors
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