Patna High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit on a PIL alleging that affluent people and not actual beneficiaries were enjoying Indira Awas Yojana benefits.

The division bench of Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Shivaji Pandey passed the order on the PIL filed by Ram Bilash Roy seeking a probe into the charges and a direction to the government for stern action against the guilty. The matter would be heard after four weeks.

The petitioner’s advocate, Brajesh Kumar, submitted that the special secretary of rural development visited Ismailpur panchayat in Hajipur sadar block on October 18, 2011, to look into the allegation. On randomly picking up five Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) scheme papers, the official found only one to be a genuine beneficiary; the other four owned cars, plots and pucca houses, Kumar contended.

The official recommended action against the Hajipur sadar block development officer, mukhiya (rural body head) and panchayat sevak and sought a government inquiry. On November 22, 2011, the state directed the Vaishali district magistrate to probe IAY’s functioning in the district but no investigation was conducted.

Advocate Kumar said the IAY beneficiaries open bank accounts. But in this case, post office accounts were opened. To drive home his point, he annexed paper clippings for the court’s perusal.