Under scanner: The Patna Central Mall

The high court on Thursday directed the Patna district administration — the district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police — to stop business activities on the top two floors of Patna Central Mall over plot number 65 and the building over plot number 66 owing to violation of building bylaws.

The court, in its order said all business activities would have to be stopped by Thursday evening itself. The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) had earlier declared the mall’s (on Fraser Road) top two floors and the building over plot number 66, illegal. The court of Justice V.N. Sinha and Justice P.K. Jha passed the order on a petition filed by Narendra Mishra.

During Thursday’s hearing, the PMC commissioner said 447 vigilance cases had been initiated by the corporation under violation of building bylaws of which 120 have already been disposed and orders have been reserved in 100 cases.

The civic commissioner told the court that at present, he is required to dispose of 227 cases.

The court then directed the PMC commissioner to file an affidavit giving the time schedule within which the aforesaid 327 cases would be disposed of.

In the same affidavit, the commissioner would also have to state the dates of other vigilance matters which he has disposed of after his joining in April 2013 with the date of order of each case and the date on which the hearing was concluded.