Trafficking of bonded labourers: SC asks Labour Ministry to file affidavit

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked the secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment to file an affidavit detailing action taken to address inter-state trafficking of bonded labourers, including minors, and to indicate what further directions are required from the apex court. The affidavit was requested to be filed within three weeks, so the matter could be heard on May 19. The bench noted that the attorney general had placed a note reflecting action taken by the ministry and the status of the related scheme.

During the hearing in November 2024, the top court directed the secretary of the ministry to convene a meeting with counterparts from all states and Union Territories to come out with a proposal addressing inter-state trafficking and the grant of release certificates. It called for a simplified procedure to effectively implement the scheme providing immediate financial assistance to rescued bonded labourers, including children, and asked the Centre to involve the NHRC in finalising the procedure. The court noted the problem lay in disbursal of immediate financial assistance to rescued children, with minors sometimes taken from their home states and forced into bonded labour in adjoining states.

In July 2022, the apex court agreed to hear the petition and sought responses from the Centre, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and some states and Union Territories.

One of the petitioners claimed that he and some other bonded workers were rescued and released on February 28, 2019 from a brick kiln in Shahjahanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, before being trafficked by an unregistered contractor from their native villages in Bihar's Gaya district. The petition alleges they were forced to work without minimum statutory wages and their fundamental rights to movement and employment were severely curtailed.