The high court on Monday served showcause notices on an executive engineer of Patna Municipal Corporation and two station house officers, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for allowing illegal constructions.

The division bench of Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Vikash Jain pulled up the SK Puri and Patliputra police stations’ house officers and the civic body’s executive engineer in charge of New Capital circle for allegedly allowing illegal constructions in their jurisdictions. The bench also directed the registrar of the co-operative societies to reply why appropriate steps were not taken to comply with the court’s order in May.

The court had on May 10 passed an order directing the authorities to not allow any 11-15m high non-residential or commercial construction on residential plots unless the road abutting them were 20ft wide. One Narendra Mishra had filed a PIL alleging construction was going on in a lane approximately 8 feet wide and sought to stop illegal mushrooming of high-rises.

The May 10 order directed the corporation and the registrar of the co-operative societies to ensure that no new commercial or non-residential construction was started afresh on a residential plot.

The civic body told the court that it was unable to implement the order owing to lack of assistance and co-operation from the state government in providing staff, engineers, policemen and magistrates. But the state government counsel submitted that it had already provided the corporation the support staff and engineers needed for implementing the order. At this, the court, expressing its anguish, said no blame game would be allowed and it would pass harsh orders if its directives were not implemented.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Suresh Prasad Singh submitted that the respondent authorities were not implementing the orders and were liable to face contempt.