Plea in Kerala HC against converting fuel bunk toilets into public facilities as per revised Swachh guidelines
Justice C S Dias, on the petition filed by the Petroleum Traders Welfare and Legal Service Society and four of its members who own petrol bunks, directed the govt to produce the revised guidelines of the Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban. The court further adjourned the petition to Monday.
The petitioners stated in the petition that the local self-govt authorities were illegally converting/treating private toilets maintained within the premises of their retail outlets as public toilets and pasting posters on a conspicuous portion of the toilets along with certain switches that seem to indicate that the same is to be used for feedback.
Similarly, posters including QR codes were also affixed in toilets for feedback, they stated.
The petitioners argued that the alleged action of the local self-govt institutions is a violation of Article 300A of the Constitution, which guarantees protection from being deprived of the proper and independent enjoyment of private properties falling within the realm of private ownership. They further raised security concerns, contending that the decision would lead to unauthorised public access to petrol retail outlets, significantly increasing the risk of fire and other catastrophic incidents due to the influx of people in a restricted area.
The petitioners further sought a directive to the state govt and the local self-govt institutions to refrain from converting/treating private toilets maintained within the premises of the petrol retail outlets within the state as public toilets and also for a general declaration against treating such private toilets as public toilets.
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