Cuttack/Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has stayed any coercive action against ruling BJD MLA Pratap Jena in the 2021 Mahanga double murder case.
Jena, a former law minister who was dropped from the Naveen Patnaik ministry last year, also had another moment of joy when the BJD on Thursday appointed him as a party observer for Kendrapara district for the upcoming polls.
The BJD also appointed former minister Sanjay Kumar Das Burma as the party’s observer for Bhadrak district.
While putting a stay on any coercive action against Jena, the high court on Wednesday sought records relating to the case from the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Salipur, and fixed the next date of hearing on December 19.
Jena had earlier skipped appearance in the Salipur JMFC court on October 31 citing health grounds.
In a petition to the court through his counsel, Jena said doctors had advised him the rest for a month.
Two elderly BJP leaders of Mahanga in Cuttack district were hacked to death in 2021 where Jena’s name figured as one of the accused.
JMFC Salipur, which had taken cognisance to the offences against Jena in the Mahanga double murder case in its September 25 order, ordered a prima facie case punishable under Sections 302, 506, 120 B of the Indian Penal Code to be made against him.
He was asked to depose before the court on October 31, 2023 and a summons was issued to the MLA.
However, the BJD leader skipped the hearing and urged the court to exempt him from personal appearance as per Section 205 of IPC citing illness.
Based on Jena’s petition in the high court challenging the cognisance order by the JMFC court, the HC stayed any coercive action for the time being.
PTI