Urban Dev. Minister asks HC to 'Remain within its Limit'

Patna: Aug. 19, 2008

In an utter disregard for the nation's revered judiciary system, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Urban Development Minister Bhola Prasad Singh, on Tuesday warned the Patna High Court to 'remain in its limit' or he would take up his complaint with the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.

Singh, angry at the High Court's scathing criticism of the local government's failure to rid Patna from water-logging and likening Patna to an 'urban slum', said the court's comments were unwarranted and went beyond its constitutional rights.

"We expect the court to remain within its limit," the minister said adding the judges made the comments without first getting the facts.

"The High Court is not above the law and it should not cross the 'Laxman Rekha' or there would by anarchy in the state," he said adding it was a common knowledge that several lakh civil and criminal cases were pending in each court. "What is stopping them from disposing them off in a timely fashion? Before they preach to others, they need to look into their own plight," the BJP leader said.

Earlier on Monday, during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation initiated by an NGO, a Patna High Court Division Bench criticized the Urban Development department saying it had failed to stop water-logging from taking place and had allowed the city to turn into an 'urban slum'.