Court case(1980) 4 SCC 162

Residents of a locality of Ratlam town (New Road) complained to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate that the Municipal Council had failed to construct proper drains, that open drains and pits overflowed, that sewage and the malodorous discharge from a nearby alcohol plant flowed onto the road, and that the absence of public latrines led to the area being used for defecation, causing an intolerable stench and a danger to health. Acting under s. 133 CrPC the Magistrate directed the Council to prepare a plan and construct drains within six months. The Council's appeals failed, and it came to the Supreme Court, pleading mainly that it lacked funds.

The Supreme Court (Krishna Iyer J.) dismissed the appeal and upheld the Magistrate's order, with directions. Section 133 CrPC is a public remedy for the removal of public nuisances, and when the Magistrate finds that a nuisance exists the power is to be exercised. The Municipality was under a statutory duty to provide sanitation and drainage, and the decency and dignity of human existence required it. Financial inability could not be pleaded to escape a statutory duty; budgetary priorities had to be rearranged. The Court directed the Council to take immediate action to stop the effluents, to construct drains and provide latrines within a time frame, and observed that the State should assist the Council with funds, while the polluting factory was also to be dealt with.