The Supreme Court Wednesday came down heavily on Maharashtra's slum rehabilitation authority (SRA) for trying to "shrug off" their responsibility in ensuring compliance of an Act meant for welfare of building and construction workers in Mumbai. A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said an affidavit proposed to be filed by SRA was "extremely vague" and the authority, without trying to "pass on the buck" to builders and contractors, should ensure compliance of the provisions of the Act.

Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, representing Maharashtra government, told the court that there were around 339 projects under SRA but they have not received data from the authority regarding registration of workers under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996. "This (non-registration of workers) is exploitation and you (SRA) are saying that 'yes I know it is exploitation but I cannot do anything because I have no power'," the bench said.