Buildings officials will only initiate a criminal investigation into chief executive-elect Leung Chun-ying if there is evidence suggesting someone built and then purposefully concealed the illegal structures at his home on The Peak.
The Legislative Council's development panel yesterday grilled the permanent secretary for development, Thomas Chow Tat-ming, about the issue.
Chow said that while the Buildings Department's most important task was to inspect Leung's homes - just as it had done in previous cases involving senior government officials and celebrities - priority would not be given when it came to enforcement proceedings against these high-profile people.
'When it comes to enforcement, the arrangement is the same for all illegal structure cases,' said Chow.
Department officers, who acted on media reports of an illegally built trellis, identified six illegal structures last week at Leung's two houses at Peel Rise on The Peak. Leung said four of the six structures, including a basement underneath a car park, existed before he moved in, while he was not aware that the trellis and a glass canopy he erected were illegal.
A group of university professors and students will hold a press conference at Leung's house today to present a petition of 800 signatures, urging him to stop removing the illegal structures to facilitate future investigations.
Members of the development panel called on the government to launch an inquiry to find out who had built the illegal structures.