Bihar Officials Issued Contempt Notices

The Patna High Court yesterday served show cause notice to five top Bihar government officials, including chief secretary B P Verma asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for violating its directive on conducting polls to the states panchayat institutions.

The show cause notices were also issued to the state rural development commissioner N K Agarwal, former chief secretary A K Basak, the state director for panchayati raj Ajay Kumar and former state election commission commissioner K K Saha.

A division bench comprising Justice B N Agarwal and Justice N N Singh directed issue of the show cause notice on a contempt petition filed by the Sapru Jaikar C R Das Institute of Legal Aid, Studies and Research (Patna), a voluntary organisation.

The petitioner had alleged that the respondents the state government and its concerned officials, had violated an earlier directive of the court for conducting polls to the panchayati raj institutions in the state by January, 1996.

The matter would be taken up for hearing within the next ten days.