New Delhi: In a major setback to BJP national general secretary Baijayant Panda, the Odisha High Court has refused to intervene in the case of the Dalit community buying land allegedly fraudulently by a company owned by him.
Odisha Police is investigating this case under various sections of IPC and SC / ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
According to the report of Indian Express, the court has also cleared the way for the arrest of Panda and his wife Jagi, who is a co-promoter in Odisha Infratech Private Limited (OIPL) company, dismissing all earlier orders. The High Court had earlier passed an interim order prohibiting his arrest.
Panda had filed a petition in the High Court seeking dismissal of the FIR lodged against him and OIPL.
However, Baijayant Panda denied these allegations and accused Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of doing politics of revenge. Jagi Panda said in a statement, "Nothing wrong has been done by us and we are sure that it will be proved in court."
In an order issued on Friday, Justice BP Rautray said, "I do not want to interfere in this matter, especially at a time when investigation is pending." In this way, the petitioners 'demand is rejected and all the interim orders are scrapped.'
Panda had alleged in his petition that this FIR was malicious and lodged it on the instructions of the ruling party. However, the court rejected this argument and said that there is no evidence of this.
On November 1, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police arrested Manoranjan Sarangi, director of Odisha Infratech Pvt Ltd, for illegally buying land. Sarangi is also the Chief Financial Officer of OTV, a private channel. The channel is owned by the family of Baijayant Panda.
Sethi hails from the Dalit community and at one time he was a driver in Panda's company ORTEL Communication Limited.
In this regard, an FIR was registered by the Economic Offenses Cell of Odisha Police on 31 October. It said, Ravindra Kumar Sethi, who came from the Dalit community, who was a driver in Panda's company ORTEL Communication Ltd, was pressurized by Panda from him. Was purchased
This was allegedly a violation of the state's laws that prohibit the purchase of land owned by Dalits by non-Dalits.
According to the FIR, this land was allegedly bought at a rate of 50 per cent below the market price. After this, this land was taken from Sethi by OIPL for 65 lakh rupees, but no amount was paid to them.
A senior Odisha police officer said, "There was no financial transaction between Sethi and those from whom the land was purchased. Sethi was not given any money by Panda for the next purchase as well. Everything is only on paper, which is an indication of cash transactions and offenses under the Benami Act. Sethi and others (from whom the land was purchased) have recorded their statements before the magistrate. '
In Odisha, under the Land Revenue Act, Dalits are prohibited from selling their land to non-Dalits unless the District Collector allows it.
In a statement, Jagi Panda has said, "In the last two months, the Odisha Police has filed 20 false cases against OTV, its affiliates, employees and my family members, including my 84-year-old father. We reject these allegations. '
According to the statement, 'We claim that these cases against us have been registered on the instigation of the 21-year-old BJD government in Odisha due to personal retaliation from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.'
It is known that Baijayant Panda was formerly a senior MP of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of Naveen Patnaik's party. Due to some differences, he broke away from the BJD and joined the BJP in the month of March 2019.
The BJD suspended him from the party on the basis of anti-party activities. After this, he resigned from the membership of the party and the Lok Sabha. In 2009 and 2014, Panda was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kendrapara seat in Odisha, while was a Rajya Sabha member from 2000 to 2009.
The BJD also accused him of being anti-party and involved in money laundering activities. However, Panda denied these allegations.
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