Cuttack: The government's one-time amnesty scheme to regularise construction deviations in urban and semi-urban areas has come under judicial scrutiny with the high court issuing notices to the urban development department and eight other development authorities in this regard on Thursday.

On Monday, the high court had directed the government's advocate to take instructions from the government on a petition that had challenged the scheme notified on June 20. Subash Mohapatra, 47, of Khandagiri in Bhubaneswar, filed the petition.

Accordingly, when the matter was taken up by the court on Thursday, the government advocate made verbal submission claiming that the scheme was notified as per law in accordance to the regulations as per the Odisha Development Authorities Act.

Petitioner counsel Sidhartha Prasad Das, on the other hand, vehemently opposed saying that the scheme was not in consonance with the spirit of the Odisha Development Authorities Act, 1982.

Taking note of the issue, the division bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice B.R. Sarangi admitted the petition and posted the matter for hearing after five weeks along with response from concerned authorities.

While giving four weeks' time to the concerned authorities to file their replies, the court allowed one week thereafter to the petitioner to file a rejoinder.

The court, accordingly issued notices to the commissioner-cum-secretary of urban and housing development department and the vice-chairmen of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority, the Cuttack Development Authority, the Berhampur Developnent Authority, the Rourkela Development Authority, the Puri-Konark Development Authority, the Paradip Development Authority, the Kalinga Nagar Development Authority and the Talcher-Angul Meramundali Development Authority.