HC to PMC: Dispose of vig cases by Jan 15

Patna: The Patna high court on Thursday ordered the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) to dispose of the vigilance cases in which orders have been reserved by it, by January 15. Besides, the court ordered the PMC to clear the rest of the cases by February 15. The cases relate to illegal constructions in the city.
A division bench of Justice V N Sinha and Justice Aditya Kumar Trivedi, while hearing a PIL filed by Narendra Mishra and others against the increasing number of illegal apartments in the city gave this order and directed the civic body to expedite its hearing process so that construction work could begin in the city soon.
Khatals’ removal: The same bench, while hearing another case regarding khatals on Thursday warned Patna SSP Jitender Rana of stern action if the khatals which resurfaced after their removal earlier were not removed by December 15. The court directed Patna Police to restrict the re-emergence of removed khatals. The court ordered for disposal of applications for private licences for khatals within four weeks.