The Sessions Court here on Wednesday extended the hearing of bail petition of Raja Shree Mohanty, accused of torture to his wife Barsa Swony Choudhury, till Thursday after his counsels sought time for a day.
“We filed a time petition for a day as the court asked us to clarify an issue. We will obtain the document and submit it tomorrow and participate in the arguments,” informed a defence advocate, Niranjan Panda. The hearing on the petition of Raja Shree, son of former Minister Raghunath Mohanty, was almost complete in the first half of the morning court, but some information given by the Public Prosecutor (PP) to the court led to its extension.
PP Biren Panda informed the court that a similar petition for bail was pending before the High Court. The court sought clarification from the defence counsels on the issue and the latter informed that they had filed an application in the High Court on March 25 but are now not pressing it, which they have submitted the fact through an affidavit.
As the Sessions Court asked for a certified copy of the memo meant for not pressing the March 25 petition, the defence counsels sought time for it. “We are going to the High Court today to obtain a certified copy of our petition for not pressing the matter in the HC. We will submit the document at the Sessions Court tomorrow and argue our case,” informed another defence counsel, Gour Chandra Rout.
Meanwhile, it is learnt from sources that the High Court has sought the case diary (CD) from the Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC), the investigating agency in the Barsa torture case.
“We received the letter of High Court asking for the CD today, and we have already sent it,” informed an officer of
the HRPC.