Kataka/Paralakhemundi: Orissa High Court has declined to grant interim protection from arrest to Bidyabharati Panda, wife of late Assistant Conservator of Forests Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, in connection with the case relating to his death.
Panda had sought interim relief while her anticipatory bail application was pending before the court.
Mohapatra suffered burn injuries at his residence in Paralakhemundi in Odisha’s Gajapati district July 12, 2021, and died the following day.
The Paralakhemundi Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate subsequently took cognisance of offences under Sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint filed by Mohapatra’s father.
During the puja vacation on Friday, a vacation bench of Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra declined to grant interim relief to Panda and directed the investigating agency to produce the case diary in connection with her anticipatory bail plea.
The application will be heard after the court reopens following the vacation.
The High Court is scheduled to resume regular sittings from Tuesday.
The latest order leaves Panda without interim protection from arrest.
She has been directed to appear before the Paralakhemundi court by October 30.
The deadline was extended from October 1 by the High Court on September 30, after the Supreme Court dismissed her special leave petition challenging the High Court’s earlier refusal to interfere with the magistrate’s cognisance order.
However, the apex court left her free to seek anticipatory bail.
The case was initially investigated by the Crime Branch under Sections 285 and 304-A of the IPC.
The magistrate subsequently took cognisance of the graver charges of murder and criminal conspiracy on the basis of the complaint filed by Mohapatra’s father.
Two other persons are also accused in the case.
Sangram Keshari Behera, the then Divisional Forest Officer of Paralakhemundi, has surrendered before the court, while the family cook, Manmath Kumbha, has been arrested.
Senior advocate Umesh Prasad Rath, commenting on the case earlier, said Panda had a limited window to seek further relief and that all three accused could face custody, subject to orders of the competent courts.
“She is an accused person, and nothing in the High Court’s interim order is a finding on the merits of the case,” Rath said.