The Supreme Court of India has issued a directive prohibiting manual sewer cleaning in six metropolitan cities, including Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. This ruling aims to eliminate the practice of manual scavenging, which has persisted despite previous efforts to eradicate it. The court's decision underscores the ongoing challenges related to sanitation and worker safety in urban areas. Additionally, the Supreme Court has relaxed the rules for appointing ad-hoc judges to high courts to address a backlog of approximately 62 lakh pending cases. The court will allow a maximum of five retired high court judges to be reappointed to each high court to expedite the hearing of criminal cases, with the aim of reducing the substantial number of cases awaiting resolution.