HC seeks report on construction workers with Metro

The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday directed the Union Labour Commissioner to file, within two weeks, a report on the living conditions of the construction workers with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.

Samuel Sathyan Seelan has filed a public interest litigation alleging that thousands of migrant workers from Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh working for the Metro project were living in bad conditions.

According to the petitioner, the State as well as the Central government have done nothing to create basic facilities for the labourers. Compensation has not been paid to the family of the workers killed in accidents while on duty. Ever since the Metro rail project commenced in Bangalore, nine labourers have died in accidents and the family of Sameer Khuran, who died at a Metro site recently was yet to receive compensation, the petition said.

The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna while terming construction workers as soldiers on the war field, expressed serious concern on not providing compensation to the dead worker’s family. It directed the Union Labour Commissioner to file a report on the living, working conditions and safety of construction workers with Metro.

Bail plea rejected

The High Court has rejected the bail plea of Santosh, an accused in the case pertaining to the attempt on the life of businessman Dayanand Pai. Santosh had claimed that he was innocent and the police had implicated him in the case. However, Justice Sreedhar Rao rejected bail.