The high court on Monday directed a bailable arrest warrant be issued against Patna district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma for failing to appear before it in a case related to the construction of road on a privately owned land.

Issuing the order, Justice Rakesh Kumar said he was surprised as to how the government used the land of the petitioner for constructing the road without seeking the petitioner’s consent or following any acquisition proceeding.

The petitioner, Mukesh Kumar, had alleged that his land was used for road construction without seeking his consent.

The high court on August 8 had directed the Patna district magistrate to file a reply to the showcause issued by September 8 or to appear before it in the next hearing on September 22.

There was specific direction to the district magistrate to personally appear before the court on Monday for passing appropriate order against him for disobeying its earlier order.

The high court, in its earlier directive, had said that if the order of the court was complied with and the reply to the showcause was filed by September 8, there was no need for personal appearance of the district magistrate.

However, neither any reply was sent within the deadline nor the district magistrate was personally present in the court on Monday.

Against this backdrop, the court has no option but to issue a bailable arrest warrant against the district magistrate for securing his appearance, Justice Kumar said in his order on Monday.

The case has been listed again on October 22.

The court also directed the rural development principal secretary to file a specific reply by October 17 on what action was being initiated on the construction of the road without taking the consent of the landowner.