The Supreme Court, while hearing a PIL concerning the payment of wages to stranded Migrant Workers by the Government, expressed the intention of not interfering with the steps that the Government is adopting to handle the crisis at hand. The case will now be taken up on April 13.
The instant PIL had been filed by a retired IAS officer Harsh Mander along with RTI Activist Anjali Bhardwaj raising concerns about the payment of wages to stranded Migrant Workers amid lockdown.
The bench, comprised of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Deepak Gupta refused to pass direction in this regard, asserting that the same is a policy decision, and such decisions are the prerogative of the Government. CJI Bobde remarked that at this stage, the Court does not intend to interfere in the decisions taken by the government and will not do so for the coming few days.
Counsel for the petitioners, Adv. Prashant Bhushan was contending the enforcement of fundamental rights of the stranded migrant workers who have been the worst hit due to the nationwide lockdown. It was brought to the Court’s notice that the Workers heavily depend on their daily wages for their survival. Concerns regarding the further spread COVID-19 in the shelter homes created to cater for the needs of the migrant workers were also raised.
It was contended in the petition that
“The government must…ensure that the wages are paid to migrant workers at the place that they are presently located during the lockdown, whether in their home state or in shelter homes or in the state where they had migrated to before the lockdown…”
Tushar Mehta, the solicitor General of India apprised the Court of the government’s steps to address the issue and that it was monitoring all complaints in this regard.
A status report of the current situation was filed by the Centre today morning, consequently Bhushan was given time by the Court for its perusal.
The matter has been listed to be heard again on Monday, April 13.
