- (1.) The petitioner is an organisation dedicated to the cause of release of bonded labourers in the country. The system of bonded labour has been prevalent in various parts of the country since long prior to the attainment of political freedom and it constitutes an ugly and shameful feature of our national life. This system based on exploitation by a few socially and economically powerful persons trading on the misery and suffering of large numbers of men and holding them in bondage is a relic of a feudal hierarchical society which hypocritically proclaims the divinity of man but treats large masses of people belonging to the lower rungs of the social ladder or economically impoverished segments of society as dirt and chattel. This system under which one person can be bonded to provide labour to another for years and years until an alleged debt is supposed to be wiped out which never seems to happen during the lifetime of the bonded labourer, is totally incompatible with the new egalitarian socio-economic order which we have promised to build and it is not only an affront to basic human dignity but also constitutes gross and revolting violation of constitutional values. The appalling conditions in which bonded labourers live, not as humans but as serfs, recall to the mind the following lines from "man with the Hoe" which almost seem to have been written with reference to this neglected and forlorn species of Indian humanity : Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground The emptiness of ages on his face, And on his back the burden of the world, They are non-beings, exiles of civilization, living a life worse than that of animals, for the animals are at least free to roam about as they like and they can plunder or grab food whenever they are hungry but these outcastes of society are held in bondage, robbed of their freedom and they are consigned to an existence where they have to live either in hovels or under the open sky and be satisfied with whatever little unwholesome food they can manage to get, inadequate though it be to fill their hungry stomachs. Not having any choice, they aye driven by poverty and hunger into a life of bondage a dark bottomless pit from which, in a cruel exploitative society, they cannot hope to be rescued.
(2.) This pernicious practice of bonded labour existed in many States and obviously with the ushering in of independence,. it could not be allowed to continue to blight the national life any longer and hence, when we framed our Constitution, we enacted Article 23 of the Constitution which prohibits "traffic inhuman beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour" practised by anyone. The system of bonded labour therefore stood prohibited by Article 23 and there could have been no more solemn and effective prohibition than the one enacted in the Constitution in Article 23. But, it appears that though the Constitution was enacted as far back as 26/01/1950 and many years passed since then, no serious effort was made to give effect to Article 23 and to stamp out the shocking practice of bonded labour. It was only in 1976 that Parliament enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 providing for the abolition of bonded labour system with a view to preventing the economic and physical exploitation of the weaker S. of the people. But, unfortunately, as subsequent events have shown and that is borne out also by the report made by the Centre for Rural Development Administration, Indian Institute of Public Administration to the Ministry of Labour, government of India on "rehabilitation of Bonded Labour in Monghyr District, Bihar", the report made by the Public Policy and Planning Division of the Indian Institute of Public Administration to the Ministry of Labour, government of India on "evaluation Study of Bonded Labour-Rehabilitation Scheme in Tehri-Garhwal, U. P. ", the report of Laxmi Dhar Misra, the Director-General (Labour Welfare) of the government of India based on On-the-Spot Studies Regarding Identification) Release of Bonded Labourers and Rehabilitation of Freed Labourers in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the report of the National Seminar on "identification and Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour" held from February 7 to 9, 1983 that the pernicious practice of bonded labour has not yet been totally eradicated from the national scene and that it continues to disfigure the social and economic life of the country at certain places. There are still a number of bonded labourers in various parts of the country and significantly, as pointed out in the report of the National Seminar on "identification and Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour" a large number of them belong to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes account for the next largest number while the few who are not from Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes are generally landless agricultural labourers. It is absolutely essential-we would unhesitatingly declare that it is a constitutional imperative-that the bonded labourers must be identified and released from the shackles of bondage so that they can assimilate themselves in the mainstream of civilised human society and realise the dignity, beauty and worth of human existence. The process of identification and release of bonded labourers' is a process of discovery and transformation of non-beings into human-beings and what it involves is eloquently described in the beautiful lines of Rabindra Nath Tagore in "kadi and Kamal": Into the mouths of these Dumb, pale and meek We have to infuse the language of the soul. Into the hearts of these Weary and worn, dry and forlorn We have to minstrel the language of humanity. This process of Aiscovery and transformation poses a serious problem since the social and economic milieu in which it has to be accomplished is dominated by elements hostile to it. But this problem has to be solved if we want to emancipate those who are living in bondage and serfdom and make them equal participants in the fruits of freedom and liberty. It is a problem which needs urgent attention of the government of India and the State governments and when the Directive Principles of State Policy have obligated the central and the State governments to take steps and adopt measures for the purpose of ensuring social justice to the have-nots and the handicapped, it is not right on the part of the concerned governments to shut their eyes to the inhuman exploitation to which the bonded labourers are subjected. It is not uncommon to find that the administration in some States is not willing to admit the existence of bonded labour, even though it exists in their territory and there is incontrovertible evidence that it does so exist. We fail to see why the administration should feel shy in admitting the existence of bonded labour, because it is not the existence of bonded labour that is a slur on the administration but its failure to take note of it and to take all necessary steps for the purpose of putting an end to the bonded labour system by quickly identifying, releasing and permanently rehabilitating bonded labourers. What is needed is determination, dynamism and a sense of social commitment on the part of the administration to free bonded labourers and rehabilitate them and wipe out this ugly inhuman practice which is a blot on our national life. What happened recently in the Ranga Reddy District of Andhra Pradesh as a result of the initiative taken by this court in Writ Petition Nos. 1574 of 1982 and 54 of 1983 shows clearly that if the political and administrative apparatus has a sense of commitment to the constitutional values and is determined to take action for identifying, releasing and rehabilitating bonded labourers despite pressures and pulls from different quarters, much can be done for securing emancipation and rehabilitation of bonded labourers. The District Administration of Ranga Reddy District could in less than six months release over 3000 bonded labourers from the clutches of contractors in stone quarries in Ranga Reddy District and send them back to their homes -with tickets and pocket expenses. It is therefore essential that whichever be the State government it should, where there is bonded labour, admit the existence of such bonded labour and make all possible efforts to eradicate it. By doing so, it will not only be performing a humanitarian function but also discharging a constitutional obligation and strengthening the foundations of participatory democracy in the country.
(3.) We also find that in some cases the State governments in order to shirk their obligation) take shelter under the plea that there may be some forced labour in their State but that is not bonded labour. We shall have occasion to deal with this plea a little later when we refer to the definition of 'bonded labour' given in the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 which at first blush appears to be a narrow definition limited only to a situation where a debtor is forced to provide labour to a creditor. The State of Haryana has in the present case tried to quibble with this definition of 'bonded labour' and its argument has been that these labourers may be providing forced labour but they are not bonded labourers within the meaning of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and they may therefore be freed by the court if it so pleases but the State of Haryana cannot be compelled to rehabilitate them. We are constrained to observe that this argument, quite apart from its invalidity, ill behoves a State government which is committed to the cause of socialism and claims to be striving to ensure social justice to the vulnerable S. of the community. But we do not wish to anticipate the discussion in regard to this argument and at the present stage we content ourselves by merely observing that it is unfortunate that any State government should take up the plea that persons who are forced to provide labour may be forced labourers but unless it is shown by them by proper evidence tested by cross-examination that they are forced to provide labour against a bonded debt, they cannot be said to be bonded labourers and the State government cannot be held to be under any obligation to rehabilitate them.;