MADURAI: Taking into account the delay in disposal of cases relating to bonded labour in various districts, the Madurai Bench of Madras HC recently directed the Registry to take necessary steps to implement a Supreme Court judgment which directed all high courts to form committees to speed up disposal of sensitive cases in the district judiciary.
A bench of justices N Sathish Kumar and M Jothiraman gave the direction while hearing a PIL filed by A Thangavel of Sivaganga, seeking direction to conduct day-to-day trials in bonded labour cases.
Thangavel stated in his petition that he himself was a bonded labour in a brick kiln unit in Sivaganga and was rescued in 2004 and a case had been registered by the Ilayangudi police in this regard. However, the accused were convicted only in 2014, after a lapse of 10 years, he added. Though the state government has passed a GO dated September 28, 2021, issuing standard operating procedures for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labours, as many as 134 cases under Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 are pending trial before various criminal courts across TN, he alleged.
He also furnished details of nearly 28 bonded labour cases which are pending for more than 10 years. Stating that the victims of bonded labour often depend on the outcome of criminal trials to secure rehabilitation benefits under the Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourers, 2016, issued by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, Thangavel said prolonged delays in the trial process result in serious prejudice to the victims, as they are deprived of timely rehabilitation, becoming vulnerable to re-bondage and further exploitation.
He also referred to an SC judgment dated September 22, 2025, in which the top court had held that trial in sensitive cases should be conducted on a day-to-day basis and had directed all high courts to constitute committees to discuss the issue very seriously for the benefit of their respective district judiciary.
Recording this, the judges disposed of the PIL by directing the Registry to bring the above facts and the SC judgment to the notice of the Chief Justice of Madras High Court for issuing appropriate orders.