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SCHOOL OF LEGAL STUDIES

LAND LAW

ASSIGNMENT – I

TOPIC

PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION AND CHILD LABOUR

Submitted By: Submitted To:

GARIMA Ms. SADHANA NIRBAN
2005170031
[Link].B (7th semester)
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TABLE OF CONTENT

S CONTENT PAGE
NO. NO.
3
1 Introduction
3
2 Historical context
4-5
3 Public interest litigation and child labour
5
4 The path breaking case
MC Mehta v. state of Tamil Nadu, 1996
Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. UOI, 2012
6
5 After effect of judgement
8-10
6 Conclusion
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Introduction

In today’s era, few issues attract the same amount of popular attention in
developing countries like Child Labour. The International Labour Organization
(ILO) states that many children are engaged in Child Labour worldwide. And
nearly all these have made laws to protect children from the whimsy of the labour
market and to promote school participation.

India, the world’s largest democracy has a most powerful legal framework with
the express intention to end child-labour and yet it appears that India is witnessing
the maximum incidences of child labour in the World. There are about 300
Central and State Statutes concerning children to protect and help them in
furtherance of the main motive of child labour welfare in our National charter.
India follows the policy of pro-activism in tackling the issue of child-labour.

The contribution of Indian Judiciary with regards to child labour is highly

commendable and it has in a real sense brought the revolution in the field of child
labour in India. Indian Judiciary has played a crucial role to curb the problem of
child labour and has manifested its concern for child labour by guiding job or
action under the court’s order by the direct application of constitutional
provisions. It has marked landmark judgments for deleting the issues of child
labour in India.

With regard to child labour in India, Justice Subba Rao, the former Chief Justice
of India, rightly remarked; “Social justice must start with the child. Unless a soft
plant is properly sustained, it has a pocket chance of multiply into a strong and
useful tree. So, the first preference in the plate of justice should be stated to the
well-being of children.”

Historical Context
The issue of Child Labour has always persisted in some form or the other in all
societies of the world. Children were expected to accompany their parents while
working in the field and to help with household works. But most of the work was
being done under the check of the parents, instances of exploitation were rare and
even today this sort of work is not considered exploitative.
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The worst forms of manipulation of children commenced during the Industrial

Revolution in India. It was at this period that machinery took above many tasks
back executed by hand and was concentrated in huge factories.

With the beginning of British arrival more and more child exploitation increased
in India. As the Industrial sector was established so child work made a force to
work in an inhuman condition with no wages. Laws against child labour were
passed under the Employment of Children Act of 1938. These strive at legislation
unsuccessful as they failed to address the root seed of child labour in India-
poverty. Until and unless the public was driven out of poverty, it was next to
impossible to withdraw the children out of the labour force.

Public Interest Litigation and Children

PIL was formulated in order to answer the needs of the people who cannot be
heard. There is no particular homogenous group in the nation. But there lies a
class of citizens who are deprived of the most basic amenities. Thus to these
masses the litigation is effective tool to raise their concerns. In these masses
also the most vulnerable group is of the children. As we know children are
minors and most of the times their voices go unheard. It becomes very difficult
for these children to go to court and fight for their rights. Thus in that case
PIL seems to be an effective weapon to fight for their rights and justice.
Since past few years, the concern for children and their rights have increased.
This concern for the welfare of children has also been achieved through PIL.
The PIL is the answer for the vulnerability of the [Link] when we are
talking of vulnerability, it means that children because of their age and
innocence are exposed to different circumstances in society. In the
contemporary times where through different ways exploitation of children
takes place. It may be in the form of child labor, bonded labor, child trafficking
etc. These are some of the cruel circumstances which are imposed on children
and have become the face of social evil. PIL seems to act to bring these issues
in the eyes of law.
Further adding on to this what the litigation does is that it acts as a mechanism
to make law more realistic and approachable. The PIL gives the freedom to
any concerned individual or to any organization to bring many violations of
the rights of children in the eyes of court. Here the most important part is
that these organizations for the public good can act on behalf of the children.
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PIL has helped children who are homeless, abandoned, abused, bonded,
trafficked, illegally employed and displaced. These are some of the basic
situations in which children are the most vulnerable and they feel distress in
it.
Only some 38,000 crimes were recorded last year which includes feticide,
infanticide, child marriage and child labor were registered at all in 2012 when
over 50% of India’s children are estimated to experience the abuse and the
ratio of girl to boy children declines with each measurement. All the cases of
concern of children cannot be brought about through the formal procedure.
This long formal Procedure has been eliminated by the PIL. Through a writ
petition only, PIL can be filed. It is not expensive and can raise the issue in
front of the court. It is not about only raising the issue but it also acts like a
pressure on government to act against the violations of the rights happening in
the society. In essence, the PIL develops a new jurisprudence of the
accountability of the state for constitutional and legal violations adversely
affecting the interest of the weaker elements in the community. Here when we
talk about the weaker community, it also implies to children as their
experience go without any consideration. These experiences can be used to
file a PIL and with the instructions provided by the court, a change can be
brought about in the situation of these children.

The Path-Breaking Case

M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu, 1996

M. C. Mehta filed a PIL in the Supreme Court of India alleging that many
children were being employed in several hazardous industries particularly in
the firecracker and matchstick industries in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. The
Constitution provides “no child below the age of age of fourteen years shall
be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in other hazardous
employment” Child labor is a huge problem which is a socially
acknowledged reality but the PIL filed indented to bring about this crucial
issue in the eyes of law. As of December 1, 1985 there were 221 registered
match factories in Sivakasi; these factories employed 27,338 workmen of
which 2,941 were children. With the help of this PIL, Mehta raised his
concern for the future and safety of these children who were working in these
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factories. In a larger perspective if we see then it is a case of mass violation

of human rights. Moreover, the conditions in which these children were
working were also very perilous to their health and overall well-being. This
judgment examines the continuation and the reasons for child labor despite
the enactment of Child labor (Prohibition and regulation) Act, 1986.

In the course of hearing, the supreme court of India appointed a committee

which would visit the site and make a report pertaining to the different aspects
of the matter. This committee was appointed earlier on the same issue to
understand find solutions to the child labor problem in Sivakasi. The
committee submitted its report on November 11, 1991 and gave several
recommendations. It recommended that the state of Tamil Nadu should be
directed that children should not be employed in hazardous industries of
any sorts. Children must also have a separate premise where they should not
work more than six hours. Proper transport facilities, recreation facilities and
education should be provided in or around the factory. The recommendations
were also made on providing the basic diet for children, monthly payment
and insurance. It was also recommended to start a national commission on
children’s welfare which would prepare a scheme for abolition of child labor.

After Effects of the Judgement

The Supreme Court identified that Sivakasi was not the only center where
child labour is prevalent rather the court recognized that child labour was
an all pervasive national problem in India even after 50 years of
independence and despite the enactment of various legislations. The
Supreme Court highlighted the causes of child labor as poverty, low wages
of an adult, Unemployment, absence of schemes for family allowance,
migration to urban areas, large families, children being cheaply available,
non-existence of provisions available for compulsory education, illiteracy of
ignorance of parents and traditional attitudes. Further the Supreme Court
of India gave several directions:

 The state government must conduct a survey in their respective states

within a period of six months on the issue of child labor.
 The offending employees have to pay a sum of Rs. 20,000/- for every
child who is employed in lieu of infringement of Child Labor Act.
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 The inspectors who are appointed under section 17 of the act, should
bear the responsibility of implementing the above direction. The sum
should be deposited in a fund which would be called child labor
rehabilitation cum welfare fund.
 The state should ensure that the child who is employed in a factory, his
parent or guardian should be provided employment too. If the state
government fails to do that then the state government has to contribute
Rs. 5000 to the child rehabilitation cum welfare fund.
 On the discontinuation of the employment, the child has to be assured
admission education in an appropriate institute. The inspectors will
further make sure that these directions are carried on.
 The district collector would be responsible for monitoring the
functioning of the inspectors. While the secretary of the labor
department would be responsible for monitoring the scheme.
It is pertinent to mention here that the implementation of the judgment has
not yet been done in the manner as has been envisaged by the Supreme Court.
This was acknowledged by the Delhi High Court in Court on Its Own Motion
v. Govt of Nct of Delhi in 2009 and it said:
...constitutional mandate and statutory provisions with regard to
children were not being vigorously implemented and there was lack
of coordination between different agencies of the Government of NCT
of Delhi and other authorities...
In furtherance of the above also adopted the Delhi Action Plan for Total
Abolition of Child Labour and directed the authorities to implement the same.
The Delhi Action Plan was a policy measure which was framed under the
directions of Delhi High Court by the National Commission for Protection
of Child Rights when it realized that the funds collected under the direction of
the Supreme Court in the MC Mehta case were not properly utilized and also
not being collected in the due manner.

The government quoted a report of Ministry of Women and Child Development

in its submissions before of the Supreme Court in the case of Bachpan Bachao
Andolan v. Union of India and identified the following as the reasons for
limitations in effective implementation:

 Poor implementation of existing laws and legislations;

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 Lack of linkages with essential lateral services for children, for

example, education, health, police, judiciary, services for the disabled
etc.
 No mapping has been done of the children in need of care and
protection or of the services available for them at the district, city
and state levels;

 Lack of coordination and convergence of programmes/services;

Conclusion
The issue of child labour is a complex one. It has become one of the most
sensitive and debated issue on the rights of children. The task here is to
eliminate this social evil and provide children with their rights. In a country like
ours it is easier said than done. The possibility of ending this practice seems to
be very difficult. It is important to understand the problems for its roots. The
practice of child labor has integrated very well with the economy of our nation
or vice versa. As in the above case Public Interest Litigation can be a good tool
to counter this practice but it cannot guarantee its elimination because it is
already imbibed in the economy of our nation. The question of poverty,
unemployment and migration needs to be worked upon to find a solution to the
problem of child labor. The need of the hour is the extensive use of PILs by
Social Workers instead of using agitation as their medium of voicing their
concerns.
In this particular case, the Court passed many positive directions to solve the
problem of child labour. The recognition of perils involved in having children in
these hazardous industries was a breakthrough. Many times this recognition will
act as the first stepping stone in further answering the question of child labour.
The Supreme Court in this case recognized the rights of children and passed an
order where it ensured that education should be given a priority if the child
stops working. The court also included the aspect of providing employment to
the parent/guardian of the child who is working in the factory. Here the court
has given orders in a way that it has tried to reduce the vulnerability of the child
and also kept a reality check in its judgments. The court also understood that the
problem of child labour has become a nationwide phenomenon and is not
restricted to any one particular state of region. The court also spoke about the
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prevalence of child labour in unorganized sector is very difficult to handle.

Unorganized sector in the country employs a majority of population and this by
employing children in it, there is a chance of increasing the vulnerability of the
child. The positive impact that this judgment had on children is that it has
reduced their vulnerability and provided an opportunity to grow also. This
opportunity is provided in terms of factors like employment provided to Parents
and the need for education in the case where the child has stopped going to
school. The labour commissions and the child welfare committees were also
setup to ensure the development of children.
It is important to understand here that the directions passed by the Supreme
Court can only be successful when there is proper implementation on the side of
bureaucracy. The directions issued by the Supreme Court in this case had some
positive impact on addressing the issue had some positive impact in its own way
where education of the child has been tried to be taken care. An opportunity has
also been provided to the children when the child leaves the work then
appropriate education should be provided. The part of parents is also answered
but the concern here is of the implementation. The intention of Supreme Court
has been good and through this judgment some kind of relief is also provided to
children but at a larger scale it still becomes difficult to solve this evil until all
the poverty elimination schemes are not implemented properly. A holistic
approach is needed to bring these marginalized children into the mainstream
and let their childhood not suffer because of their economic inefficiency.
The problem of implementation has been acknowledged by the government
itself in the case of Bachpan Bachao Andolan v Union of India &Ors as stated
above. The Supreme Court in this case played an even more proactive role and
directed that the Child Welfare Committee must directly come under the
supervision of the District Judge/Judge of the High Court, and also that the
above implementation must also be overseen by a Court-monitored mechanism.
Hence it can be suggested here that the Court has also proactively taken upon
itself to oversee the implementation of not only the MC Mehta Judgment but
also various antecedent laws pertaining to the subject of Child Labour. Once
again in this judgment the Court reminded the government of coming out with
policy imperatives in the field of Child Labour with special reference to UN
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons its Preamble
and Arts. 5 and 1 to 3. India being a signatory to the Protocol and Art. 5
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obligation of member countries to adopt legislative and other measures to stop

trafficking and child labour.
Through this particular case one can understand the extent and the intensity of
the problem of child labor in our country. Further with the rise of liberalization,
privatization and globalization, the vulnerability of the children has increased
tremendously. The problem of child labor can only be solved when worked
through a holistic approach where every order passed by the court is seriously
implemented and a strong check and balance system for this implementation is
placed in the society by all organs of the government.

END