What do you do when there are two restrooms - both messy and stinking - for one hundred women? You smother the niggling awkwardness and share toilet with people you are not meant to share it with.

That is precisely what women advocates of Jharkhand High Court have been doing for the past many years in Ranchi. They are either using the dirty toilets or taking a detour amid important work to use two loos, no less filthy, meant for court staff.

The situation has come to such a pass that the Bar association was compelled to file a PIL in court last week, citing a letter that a visiting Supreme Court lawyer had written to the acting chief justice, seeking immediate redress.

Working for hours at a stretch without a functional loo is harrowing experience to say the least, chorus advocates. The only usable restroom that was - before it was put on revamp radar without making alternative arrangements - rarely ever had uninterrupted water supply, let alone soap dispensers or door hooks.

To make matters worse, the hundreds of women who visit the court campus every day were allowed to use this toilet on the first floor. A flooded loo was common sight with no attendant to clear the mess.

"It is unhealthy to use dirty toilets, but what choice do we have," said advocates association executive member Amrita Kumari.

Another lawyer pointed out that the court originally had two toilets for 100 women advocates. "The ground floor one has been taken over by male lawyers; so women don't use it. The first floor one was always messy and, now that it is being repaired, we are forced to use staff toilets," she said.

Supreme Court advocate Nalini Gore, who frequently appears before Jharkhand High Court, wrote a letter (a copy of which is with The Telegraph) to acting Chief Justice D.N. Patel on August 4, underscoring that women members of the Bar deserved cleaner restrooms. She also insisted on attendants for routine toilet maintenance.

Speaking to this correspondent from Delhi, Gore said the pitiable condition of toilets gave a bad impression about Jharkhand High Court as a whole. "I have been visiting the court in Ranchi for several years and have been pained to see how women advocates manage. So, I decided to take up the matter," she said.

High court registrar-general Amujnath said repair and maintenance of toilets had already commenced earlier this week and the job was being done by the public works department. "All toilets will be good as new as soon as possible," he said without committing on a deadline.

Do you know of any other state building with dirty loos? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com