Point of Law: Section 13 of Act reads as rehabilitation of persons identified as manual scavengers by a Municipality.

ORDER :

1. The petitioner is before this Court seeking a direction by issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to consider the representation submitted by her and allot a site or house in Doddabelavangala Village, Doddaballapur Taluk, Bengaluru Rural District and also further sought a direction to take immediate steps to ensure provision of rehabilitation to the petitioner and her family members in time bound manner in accordance with law.

2. Heard Clifton D’Rozario, Smt. Maitreyi Krishnan along with Smt. Shilpa Prasad, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, Sri B.V.Krishna, learned Additional Government Advocate for respondents 1, 2, 4 and 5 and Sri M.S. Devaraj, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.6.

3. Brief facts that leads the petitioner to this Court in the subject petition, as borne out from the pleadings, are as follows:-

The petitioner is the wife of one late Narasimhaiah. Narasimhaiah was forced to perform manual scavenging and he was directed to go inside the manhole in Yehahanka, Bangalore at which time he died due to asphyxiation because of negligence which was directly attributable to the 3rd respondent, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board. The petitioner and her husband belonged to Scheduled Caste. The petitioner, widow of the manual scavenger who was put to death due to the act of the 3rd respondent gave representations to rehabilitate her and her family members since they were all dependent on the income derived from the scavenging activity of her husband. Rehabilitation was not acceded to immediately after the death of the husband, which drove the petitioner to knock at the doors of this Court in Writ Petition No.21320 of 2011.

4. This Court disposed of the petition on 14-09-2011 directing immediate action to be taken for rehabilitation of the petitioner. The petitioner again submitted a representation after the order was passed by this Court and long thereafter, in the year 2012, a site was allotted to the petitioner and the entries concerning the site were changed in favour of the petitioner. Even after passage of time, the petitioner could not construct the house due to lack of funds. In the year 2022, the 6th respondent/Panchayat Development Officer, Doddabelavangala Panchayat noticing the fact that the petitioner had not constructed any house despite passage of nine years, after allotment of the site, took over the site and marked it for the purpose of construction of Nada Kacheri. This was not made known to the petitioner. Later, when the petitioner enquired, she was assured that she would be given an alternate site. The petitioner gave plethora of representations seeking re-allotment of site in her favour and the 6th respondent/Panchayat Development Officer indicated to the Tahsildar regarding such re-allotment. Even then no allotment was made. It is then the petitioner has again knocked at the doors of this Court, ironically with the same writ petition number after 11 years.

5. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would contend that rehabilitation of family of the manual scavenger by prohibiting manual scavenging activity is the mandate of the statute. Any deviation from the same would become a penal offence. The learned counsel would further emphasize that the petitioner could not construct the house in a site that was allotted due to financial constraints and, therefore, she kept the site vacant. If the site was needed for public purpose, it was the bounden duty of the State to provide alternate site and minimum finance for construction of the house, as the petitioner herself belong to lower strata of the society, doing menial jobs for her survival and therefore, would submit that suitable direction be given as sought for. He would submit that the act of the respondents in dispossessing a scheduled caste lady would amount to an offence under the atrocities Act.

6. On the other hand, the learned Additional Government Advocate representing th