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10 days after rejecting similar plea, SC takes cognizance of 'problems and miseries' of migrant labourers

The suo moto order comes barely 10 days after the SC rejected a similar plea seeking directions that District Magistrates identify, shelter, feed and provide free transport to stranded migrant workers or those on the move.

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Migrant workers gather at the Delhi-UP border on NH-24 with the hope of going back to their native places on May 22
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Ten days after it rejected a plea seeking direction in the matter of migrant workers who were walking on foot to their native homes, the Supreme Court on Tuesday took suo motu cognizance of "problems and miseries" of migrant labourers.

A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah issued notice to the Centre and all states and Union Territories, directing them to submit their responses to tackle the “urgent” situation of migrant labourers “who have been stranded in different parts of the country” due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. The states have been asked to reply with steps taken to redeem the miseries of migrant labourers. 

Lakhs of migrant labourers have been stranded in different parts of the country due to the lockdown and many have been walking on foot or hitching rides to reach home. 

"The newspaper reports and the media reports have been continuously showing the unfortunate and miserable conditions of migrant labourers walking on-foot and cycles from long distances. They have also been complaining of not being provided food and water by the administration at places where they were stranded or in the way i.e. highways from which they proceeded on-foot, cycles or other modes of transport," the bench said its suo moto order. 

The court has also asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist it on the issue. The matter has been listed for hearing on May 28. 

Noting that though the Centre and the states have taken measures, the apex court said there have been certain lapses and immediate measures are required to be taken to provide travel, shelter and food to migrant labourers. 

The suo moto order comes barely 10 days after it had rejected a similar public interest litigation seeking directions that District Magistrates identify, shelter, feed and provide free transport to stranded migrant workers or those on the move. Wondering how the court could stop migrants from walking, a bench of justices L Nageswara Rao, SK Kaul and BR Gavai had rejected the PIL saying it was up to the states to take action.

The court had also admonished petitioner and lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava for relying on newspaper clippings to file a plea.

“...every advocate reads incidents in the paper and becomes knowledgeable about every subject. Your knowledge is totally based on newspaper clippings and then, under Article 32, you want this court to decide. Let the states decide,” Justice Kaul told the petitioner. 

Referring to the death of 16 migrant workers, who were run over by a goods train in Maharashtra last week while returning home on foot to their home in Madhya Pradesh amid the coronavirus lockdown, the court asked how anyone can stop incidents like Aurangabad when "they sleep on railway tracks." 

"How can anyone stop this when they sleep on railway tracks? How do you stop migrants who want to keep walking?" the bench observed as it dismissed the plea.

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has claimed that it has ferried around 42 lakh migrant workers on board 3,276 'Shramik Special' trains since May 1. 

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