Ranchi, Dec. 18 -- The Jharkhand high court on Thursday directed the panchayati raj department secretary to inform it of a specific date for notifying the PESA Rules, while hearing a contempt petition over the non-implementation of the Act in the state, an advocate familiar with the matter said.

"The division bench of Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chouhan and justice Rajesh Shankar heard the contempt petition filed over the non-implementation of the 29-year-old PESA Act in the state. During the hearing, the secretary of the panchayati raj department, Manoj Kumar, was present in court. The court explicitly asked him whether the rules related to the PESA Act had been placed before the cabinet. The secretary requested time until Tuesday to fil...