New Delhi, July 13: Having got the Centre to evict most illegal occupants from government bungalows in Delhi, the Supreme Court today asked several states, including Bengal, to follow suit, reports our legal correspondent

The court was told a large number of bungalows and flats were under unauthorised occupation in states such as Jammu and Kashmir (605), Uttar Pradesh (594), Bengal (361), Orissa (269), Bihar (224), Gujarat (181), Goa (173) and Madhya Pradesh (100).

The court then asked the states to file affidavits stating the latest figures and other details. It said it didn’t want to leave the matter with the high courts, many of whom had begun dealing with the problem.

Earlier, the Centre said 349 of the 497 bungalows under illegal occupation in Delhi had been vacated. Told that allotments to at least five squatters had been regularised, the court had asked the Centre to explain the move.