New Delhi: "We are not garbage collectors". This is how an anguished Supreme Court reacted on Tuesday when the Central government submitted a 845-page affidavit on solid waste management plan.
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta expressed its strong displeasure at the bulky affidavit filed by the Centre which lacked even the basic details.
"Whatever you get, you want to dump it on us...we are not garbage collectors. You be very sure about that," the bench told advocate SWA Qadri, who was appearing for the Centre.
On December 12, the Court had asked Qadri to write to all states and collect information about constitution of the committees under the 2016 Solid Waste Management rules, for enforcement of the regulations.
The Centre later submitted a 845-page affidavit after getting replies from 22 states and some union territories.
But as the judges asked questions about the composition of the committees and some other issues, Qadri kept rummaging through the files, unable to answer.
"We think your affidavit is also a solid waste. What are you trying to do by filing this bulky affidavit? If you are trying to impress us, we certainly are not impressed. If you want to dump it on us, we are not accepting it all," observed Justice Lokur.
The Court said there is no point supplying an affidavit running into hundreds of pages when it is deficient in the most fundamental details.
"Withdraw your rules if you can't enforce it," it told Qadri, who sought 15 days to come back with the answers to all specific queries.
The bench then gave him the final opportunity to consult all states and union territories about constitution of committees, their composition and meetings held so far. "And give us a graph on all these details. Don't file another affidavit to waste papers," cautioned the bench.
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