Patna Municipal Corporation is once again in the limelight following a controversial recommendation made to the state government for dissolving it.

The urban development and housing department on Thursday is learnt to have sent a recommendation to chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh to dissolve the civic body for six months.

Sources claimed that a file containing a note from minister Samrat Choudhary regarding dissolving the PMC and suspension of municipal commissioner Kuldip Narayan was sent from the personal cell of department secretary B. Rajender.

The sources also claimed that the minister had sent a copy of the recommendation note to chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who holds the additional charge of the general administration department. However, Manjhi denied receiving any such letter.

Minister Choudhary himself denied the exact recommendation made by him on action to be taken against PMC.

It is learnt that the department is in the process of sending a notice to mayor Afzal Imam to submit representation, if any, against the proposal of dissolving the PMC.

On the other hand, Patna High Court, during a hearing in the Narendra Mishra case on Thursday, asked the commissioner to give final orders in all vigilance cases against unauthorised construction by February 15 next year.

How it all started

It all started with a buff-sheet (dated November 10) from the personal secretary of minister Choudhary to department secretary B. Rajender. The buff-sheet demanded show-cause from municipal commissioner on lack of action on procurement of 72 fogging machines, delay in execution on solid waste management project and delay in disposal of vigilance cases on illegal building construction activities. The letter was then forwarded by the secretary to Narayan the next day (November 11) with an attached note demanding the show-cause within two days.

Replying to the secretary, Narayan (in a letter dated November 16) requested to extend the time for replying to the show-cause to November 25. On the next day (November 17), the secretary sent another letter demanding the show-cause within 24 hours.

Ironically, the letter from the secretary was simply a “word-by-word copy” of the one sent by the minister’s personal secretary.

Further, Narayan replied to the show-cause through a letter dated November 20. Explaining the progress made in different issues, he denied charges made against him and requested the charges to be absolved.

The sources claimed that the reply was then forwarded by secretary Rajender to minister Choudhary.

“It was Wednesday when the minister dictated one-page note to the corresponding file. The note was regarding recommendations on dissolving the PMC, suspension of Narayan and transfer of all staff in the civic body belonging to groups A, B, C and D. Though the note was added Wednesday but the file was sent from the minister’s cell to that of the secretary on Thursday,” said an official in the urban development and housing department.

The sources added that after receiving the file, a forwarding note was added from the secretary’s cell and it was moved for being sent to the chief secretary for initiating necessary action.

Problem areas

Dissolving the PMC: The sources said the minister could not recommend to directly dissolve the PMC. Section 69 of The Bihar Municipal Act, 2007, which deals with power of the state government to dissolve municipality, demands the government to constitute a five-member committee comprising divisional commissioner, chief councillor or mayor of any other municipality of the same class, a chartered accountant, an engineer and an officer of the government.

Suspension of municipal commissioner: The sources said the minister could not directly recommend suspension of the municipal commissioner as the suspension process of any IAS officer is initiated by the general administrative department.

The division bench of V.N. Sinha and A.K. Trivedi of Patna High Court also signalled tough stand on the issue related to suspension of Narayan. The bench stated: “We do not have any official communication from the state government on this issue.”

Transfer of PMC staff: The sources said staff in the PMC belonging to groups C and D are recruited internally in the civic body and they cannot be transferred to any other district.

Map & suspension

It is not for the first time that minister Choudhary’s action has sparked controversy. On November 19, Choudhary had claimed that the department suspended one junior-level staff and sent a show-cause to an engineer over a row over a map of India in the proposed master plan for Patna showing Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh not parts of the country. The sources, however, claimed that the letter regarding suspension of Ashutosh Kumar, a lower division clerk, was issued on Wednesday and the show-cause has not been served to any engineer but an assistant.