On the day a Bill to prohibit manual scavenging was to be introduced in Parliament, the Supreme Court “deprecated” some state administrations for their failure to disclose the situation of manual scavenging in their states and summoned their top bureaucrats. The SC on Monday summoned health or social welfare secretaries of Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar so as to explain for their lapses in disclosing the status. The SC imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on these states. The SC also summoned Uttarakhand’s chief secretary, urban development secretary and district magistrate of Haridwar to show up on the next date over their failure to file affidavits and to corroborate their stand that there was no manual scavenging in the state. “Despite repeated orders and opportunity granted by the court, states of MP, UP, Bihar and J&K have failed to file their affidavits. It is a matter of regret that they have not filed the affidavits even though a contempt petition against them has been moved. Such inaction by the states needs to be deprecated. Non-compliance with the court orders cannot be accepted,” said a Bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and S J Mukhopadhaya. The court also tore into the affidavit by Uttarakhand’s DM. “We are of the view that the District Magistrate’s affidavit has been filed in a very casual manner and without verifying the facts,” noted the Bench, while asking the top officers of the state to remain present on the next date. Cautioning the states, the Bench further said: “It is time states should wake up and take thing seriously.”