A three-judge bench headed by Justice B N Kirpal asked the municipal commissioners of all these cities to file an affidavit within six weeks on steps taken to make these huge workforces do the cleaning job they have been entrusted with.

The bench also asked them to state which officer should be held responsible by the court if the municipalities failed to do their statutory job of keeping the cities clean. The Delhi Municipal Corporation alone employs around 48,000 safai karmacharis for cleaning and solid waste disposal.

The counsel for the BMC submitted that around 75 per cent of its revenue is spent on paying the wage bill of the karmacharis, who, after being initially appointed as contract labour, had to be absorbed on court orders, causing heavy financial burden.

The court asked the concerned state governments and the Union government to state on affidavit as to whether employment of contract labour for the purpose of cleanliness and solid waste disposal should or should not be allowed as per the exemption provided under Section 31 of the Contract Labour Act.

The court said there was adequate provision in the acts against littering by citizens and asked the municipalities to take necessary action in accordance with law against persons found littering.