The Bombay high court has issued show-cause notices to Maharashtra chief secretary and finance secretary for flouting the 'purchase ceiling' in buying 43 new Skoda cars for the state's council of ministers.

A division bench comprising Justice J N Patel and Justice A H Joshi, while responding to a public interest litigation challenging the purchase of Skoda cars for 43 members of the Maharashtra ministry, issued show-cause notices answerable in two weeks.

A city lawyer G C Singh in his PIL had questioned the wisdom of purchasing 43 Skoda cars at a whopping Rs 5.16 crore when the state is facing an acute financial crunch.

The bench, while referring to a GR, observed that while the governor, the chief minister and the chief justice of high court can opt for any car of any make worth over Rs 600,000, a ceiling of Rs 600,000 has been fixed for other government functionaries for the same.