A division bench of the High Court directed the state government on Monday to file a counter affidavit detailing the steps taken by it to avert farmers’ suicides in the state. The bench, comprising acting chief justice PC Ghose and justice Vilas V Afzulpurkar, was dealing with a public interest petition filed by P Srihari Rao seeking compensation package announced by the prime minister and the government for the victims’ families. It asked the government to verify the list of suicides and take immediate steps for payment of compensation.