Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madam B. Lokur on Wednesday said there was lack of implementation of laws and court orders for the realisation of right to sanitation for all in the country.
Speaking at the launch of a book titled ‘Right to Sanitation in India: Critical Perspectives’ at India International Centre here, Justice Lokur said an area that needed to be looked at when sanitation is concerned, was prosecution aspect of the law.
“The laws provide for the bureaucrats, the executive to do some things. If they do not do it, what happens? The person goes to court, that is what public interest litigation is about. But how about prosecuting people who are not doing their jobs? Can we prosecute them? If we can, they why aren’t we doing it?” Justice Lokur said.
The other issue that Justice Lokur highlighted was the lack of implementation of laws. “You may have good laws, Supreme Court judgments, but if the government does not implement it, what are the citizens or a manual scavenger supposed to do?” he said.
The book highlights key issues concerning the realisation of the right to sanitation for all, the scope of the right, its links with other rights, such as health, gender equality and environment and issues of specific relevance in Indian context, such as manual scavenging.