MUMBAI, Dec. 1 -- A contempt petition has been filed in the Bombay High Court against the state government for allegedly "wilfully disobeying" a previous order. The order directed the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to demolish 65 illegal buildings in the region within three months and required the civic body to provide police assistance to move the occupants. A division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad on November 20 directed the petitioner, Sandeep Pandurang Patil, an architect, to file an affidavit naming all the owners or tenants of the 65 buildings. The court will hear the matter on December 18. Patil had approached the court in October, claiming that the authorities had not complied with the clear directions of the courts issued in November 2024. He said the inaction amounts to "deliberate disobedience" and therefore amounts to contempt. In its November 2024 order, the court had issued six directions to the state government, KDMC, and MahaRERA. These included demolition of the illegal buildings, and the integration of the Building Plan Management System (BPMS) with the MahaRERA website to establish a streamlined process for verifying the authenticity of certificates issued in the construction of buildings. The court also ordered the KDMC to upload commencement and occupation certificates on its website within 48 hours after they are issued, to ensure transparency. Patil had first approached the court in 2021, claiming that innocent homebuyers were being defrauded by developers who obtained RERA registrations using forged documents in the name of the KDMC. These fraudulent approvals allegedly enabled developers to secure RERA certificates and register apartments, flats, and shops in illegal buildings. After the court's 2024 order, several societies asked for their buildings to be regularised, a process in which they could pay a fee or penalty and the illegal construction could be officially legalised by the state. After the KDMC rejected their requests and told residents to vacate the buildings, the court held that the buildings were among the 65 illegal ones, and said that illegal constructions cannot be protected by the law. In his most recent petition, Patil said that while the KDMC had issued a notice to the Thane Police Commissioner in July seeking police protection to vacate the illegal buildings, the civic body had repeatedly refused to offer police protection. Patil has urged the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the responsible authorities, and direct them to file detailed affidavits explaining the reasons for non-compliance....