The case is related to the demow Integrated Cattle Development Project of the Letter of Credit scam. Acting Chief Justice N C Jain and justice P G Agarwal issued the notices returnable within six weeks to respond to the charges.

The PIL, filed by one Nabin Chandra Kalita, alleged that it was not within the jurisdiction of the sanctioning authority in the prosecution of public servants to ``sift the evidence collected and decide on the guilt or innocence of the person sought to be prosecuted''.

``In the present case, the Governor having come to the conclusion that a particular witness is not reliable or that there is no corroborative evidence has exceeded the jurisdiction vested on him by the law'', the petition said.

Advocates L Nageswara Rao, G Uzir and SBhattacharya, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, argued that by evaluating the evidences against Mahanta, the Governor was assuming the role of a court when he has no such power.''