The high court on Tuesday asked the civic body to furnish details of the buildings whose construction had been stopped, giving partial relief to the real estate fraternity and residents booking under-construction flats.

The fate of the 449 buildings would be decided after the civic body furnishes their detailed report during the next hearing on August 8. The construction of the buildings was stopped following a previous order of the court on May 10.

Despite seeking details of the disputed residential structures, the court seemed firm on strict action against commercial construction on sites earmarked for residential use on the lines of previous judgments given in identical cases by Patna High Court, Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

The division bench of Patna High Court comprising justice Navin Sinha and Vikash Jain directed the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), the Patna district magistrate and the registrar of Co-operative Society, Patna, on Tuesday to file a detailed survey report on under-construction buildings along roads less than 20ft wide and non-residential constructions on residential plots. The order was passed while hearing on a PIL filed by Narendra Mishra seeking brakes on illegal mushrooming of high-rises.

The court appeared dissatisfied with the counter-affidavits filed by the PMC in the PIL till date. The division bench observed that the notices served by the PMC to the 771 under-construction buildings on roads more than 20ft wide did not come under the purview of the PIL, but it permitted the civic body to complete its proceedings in this regard under the legal framework.

While asking the PMC to scrutinise the 449 under- construction buildings found violating the building bylaws, the court observed that the review of the buildings should be done after giving prior intimation to the builder concerned. The court also observed that the encroachment of the road abutting the building should also be taken into consideration while measuring the actual width of the road. The detailed report based on site inspections and review during the next 28 days would be signed by the officials of the PMC as well as the builder concerned.

On the shortage of manpower faced by the PMC in complying with the court’s order, the division bench directed the civic body to send a request in writing to the secretary of the urban development and housing department for requisite action.

The court also asked the civic body to put all complaints regarding construction activities in the city on its website within 72 hours in order to maintain transparency.

The builders’ body in the city welcomed the court’s order. “The previous order of the court given on May 10 was being misused by the PMC and police. The court was very specific today (on Tuesday) about proper compliance of its instruction and also slammed the civic body for misusing its order. We welcome the decision and expect justice would be delivered to the builders’ fraternity in the future as well,” said Sachin Chandra, state chairman, Bihar chapter, Builders’ Association of India.

Some residents who booked flats under construction also appeared relaxed.

The civic body, on the other hand, claimed that it took action only according to the order of the court.

“I have not received a copy of the order made by the court on Tuesday. The list of buildings being constructed in violation of buildings bylaws was made by the PMC in compliance of the court’s order. We had given our compliance report to the court and would continue to act according to its instructions,” PMC commissioner Kuldip Narayan told The Telegraph.

The corporation published the list of 449 under-construction buildings more than 11m high on roads less than 20ft wide on its website on Monday.

The list of 771 under-construction buildings, which have been served notices for furnishing property documents can also be seen on the website of the civic body www.pmcbihar.in.