'There Is A Mountain Loads Of Garbage In Delhi':Who Is Responsible For Clearing Garbage: Those Answerable To L-G Or To CM, Asks SC [Read Order]

There is a mountain loads of garbage in Delhi, particularly in Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur. We would like to know who is responsible for clearing the garbage – those answerable to the Lt. Governor or those answerable to the Chief Minister, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur has remarked.

The bench, also comprising Justice Deepak Gupta, was considering a suo motu writ petition (RE: Outrage As Parents End Life After Child's Dengue) and hearing the issue related to solid waste management.

The bench said an affidavit in this regard should be filed by the officer concerned of both the functionaries by Wednesday. The bench has posted the matter for considering this on 12^th July.

Tragic State of Affairs

“The tragedy is that more than two-third of the States/UTs in the country have neither bothered to comply with the orders passed by the Court nor bothered to comply with the directions given by the MoEF, Government of India. This is not only a tragic state of affairs but a shocking state of affairs particularly, since solid waste management is a huge problem in this country.”

The court noted that Haryana, Jharkhand, Odisha, Nagaland and Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Andaman and Nicobar Island have already filed affidavits as directed. The bench was also told by counsels appearing for Sikkim, Assam, UP, Manipur, Telangana and Daman and Diu that their affidavits were ready and would be filed during the course of the day.

Coming down heavily on Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Punjab, West Bengal, and Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, that did not file affidavit, the bench imposed heavy costs.

“Since these States/UTs have not complied with the orders passed by this Court and the directions issued by the Government of India, we impose costs of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lac only) on these States/UTs. The costs be deposited within a period of two 5 weeks from today with the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for utilization of juvenile justice issues.”

The bench imposed costs of costs of Rs. 2,00,000 on remaining defaulting States/UTs that were not present or not represented by lawyers.

“One final opportunity is given to these States/UTs to comply with the laws governing India failing which we may have to call the Chief Secretary of the concerned States/UTs to inform us why the laws governing India are not applicable to these States/UTs,” the bench added.

The court posted the matter on 7^th August.