The Supreme Court on May 16 transferred to Kerala High Court the responsibility of monitoring the measures taken by the State to provide medical and palliative care for victims of endosulfan contamination.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said the State has complied with the disbursement of compensation to victims. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta and advocate Nishe Rajen Shonker, for Kerala, said the ₹5 lakh compensation has reached almost all of the over 3700 victims.
The Bench said it has been passing orders from time to time while monitoring the case. Now, with the compensation paid, the only factor left was regarding the provision of medical and palliative care to the victims. The apex court said the High Court was in a “better position” to monitor that aspect.
The court transferred the case to the High Court. It requested the Kerala Chief Justice to list the case before his Bench or assign any other Bench.
On August 18 last year, the top court had directed the Kasargod District Legal Services Authority to inspect the medical and palliative care facilities provided to endosulfan victims.
The order had come after victims, represented by senior advocate P.N. Raveendran and advocate Sudheer, complained of the lack of health care infrastructure provided by the state despite the best efforts of the district administration.
In May last year, the apex court had slammed the Kerala government for doing “virtually nothing” for Endosulfan pesticide exposure victims. The court had said the State’s inaction was “appalling” and amounted to a breach of the apex court’s judgment in 2017, which had ordered the State to pay ₹5 lakh each to the victims in three months.
Of the 3704 victims, 102 are bedridden, 326 are mentally challenged, 201 are physically disabled, and 119 are wrecked by cancer while 2966 others fall in the residual category.
“The right to health is an integral part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Without health, the faculties of living have little meaning,” the court had noted in the case.
