Patna: The high court on Friday lambasted the state government and the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) for their failure to file supplementary counter affidavit in connection with a case filed seeking the court's attention to unhygienic and pathetic condition of public toilets in Patna.

Jitendra Kumar Singh filed a public interest litigation stating that Patna lacks sufficient number of public toilets as per its population. He raised the issue of non-maintenance and unhygienic conditions of the public toilets of the city.

Hearing the case, the division bench of Chief Justice Mukesh R. Shah and Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan on Friday took PMC to task as the bench said: "What action you have taken and what are you doing? What is this going on? Do you not want to make Patna clean and make it the number one city?"

Shah said: "Does the PMC get funds under the Swachhata scheme or not?" On this, PMC counsel Prasoon Sinha replied: "I don't know."

In reply, Shah said: "The PMC must be getting funds."

In its earlier hearing of the case on February 4, 2017, the high court had directed the PMC to file affidavit within two weeks. The PMC failed to comply with the court's order. Then again on June 11, 2017, the PMC was given four weeks' time to file the affidavit, however this time too it failed to file the affidavit. The third time the PMC failed to file the affidavit was on December 11, 2017, when it was given four weeks' time again to file the affidavit.

Appearing on behalf of the PMC counsel, Prasoon on Friday sought some more time to file the affidavit on which he was granted time till September 24 to file the affidavit. "No time will be granted after September 24. File the affidavit whatever be the condition of the toilets," the bench said adding that action would be taken if the affidavit is not filed by the given time.

The court directed the PMC to entail in the affidavit whether the public toilets they (the government) are stating as functional were in condition to be used or not?

The bench then said: "Everything must be proper in the public toilet. Ensure appropriate water supply to the public toilets and urinals with special emphasis on cleanliness."

The court directed the PMC officers to personally visit each toilet and take photographs and make a video recording of it and submit the same to the court on September 24. "Go to Indore and see what the system is there," the court said. "You send your executive officers to Indore to oversee the sanitation drive there, Chief Justice Shah said to the PMC counsel.

On this, Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan remarked: "If you go to Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, you will get to know 1km earlier that there is a toilet in the area as it stinks so much."

The court also asked the petitioner to assist the court and see whether the PMC was working properly or not.