Justice blind to eons of bondage?

CHENNAI:  The conviction rate in bonded labour cases has set the alarm bells ringing, as activists say, there are only seven convictions, including two this year, since 2017. T Kural Amudhan, a social worker, said even if the perpetrators are booked, it takes at least six to seven years for the victims to get justice. 

A testimony to the social worker’s claim is the plight of M Annamalai (34), belonging to Irular community, who along with 20 others, including his family members, were rescued  from a rice mill in Kancheepuram in November 2010 by a team of officials led by revenue divisional officer. Though a case was registered under Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976 against the three owners of the mill, it was only after 12 years of legal battle - in December 7 - that two were convicted. 

“The Madras High Court’s verdict related to the conviction is welcome, but there is still a long way to go in ensuring timely justice and compensation to the victims,” said Amudhan.  The court ordered the two owners of the mill to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 each to all the 21 rescued bonded labours and told them to stand in the court for a whole day as punishment. It is said the court did not slap them with jail-term as they are aged 72 and 75 years.  

M Raja, one of the advocates who worked on the case said, Kancheepuram principal district court had earlier acquitted the mill owners citing lack of documentary evidence. “However, the Madras High Court held that the release certificate and report of rehabilitation of the families are adequate to punish the mill owners,” he said, adding most of the cases lead to acquittal due to the delay in filing FIRs and minor differences in the testimonies of the victims.

According to government data, from April 2021 to March 2022, a total of 305 persons have been rescued from bonded labour and compensation of Rs 61 lakh was given.  V Natarajan, an advocate, said while hundreds of cases are filed under the bonded labour Act every year, there is no proper mechanism to track the convictions and increase the rate.

“Two or three cases result in conviction after a prolonged legal battle. Though DGP has issued orders to attach important documents like the release certificate while filing charge sheets, it is not properly followed by the police officials. This results in the acquittal of the accused. The DGP has also issued a circular in 2017 to include Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with human trafficking in these cases. This is also not being done in majority of cases. The prosecution has to take these cases seriously so that timely justice is ensured,” he said. 

As per Natarajan, another problem is that the rehabilitation aid provided to the victims is linked to the conviction in the cases. “The Central government has fixed a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for male victims, Rs 2 lakh for women and children and Rs 3 lakh for special cases like differently-abled persons. In September, a lower court in Bhavani convicted two persons under the Bonded Labour Act. But, the government officials did not have the details of all the victims, making it difficult to provide them with full compensation. Under the central scheme, 30% of the compensation is provided after the rescue and the remaining amount after conviction,” he added.

Meanwhile, a senior police officer said in a few cases, Section 370 is not being invoked in bonded labour cases due to the nexus between the persons involved and the local police. “The punishment under the Act is less compared to human trafficking cases. Many police officers also use the logic that the victims are not kidnapped and so the section could not be invoked despite the circular from DGP,” he added.