Addressing a news conference here, Bar Council Chairman Manas Ranjan Mohapatra said the CBI has exceeded its power by violating Sections 41 and 41-A CrPC. Bar Council member Sitanshu Mohan Dwibedy said no criminal liability is made out against the former AG as per the forwarding report made by the CBI in the court. Dwibedy said there was no justification or necessity on the part of the CBI in arresting Mohanty when he was regularly cooperating with the investigation. “There was no material or record to show that he (Mohanty) was trying to flee from the State,” he added. Dwibedy said Mohanty had purchased a double-storied house built on a 4,000 square feet land at Markat Nagar of Cuttack in March 2012 from Sethy for an amount of Rs 1.01 crore.
“As per the deal, Mohanty had given seven post-dated cheques each of Rs 10 lakh for a combined amount of Rs 70 lakh. For the remaining Rs 31 lakh, Mohanty had given three more PDCs of different amounts,” Dwibedy said. However, while the amounts for the first seven PDCs have been debited from Mohanty’s account, the whereabouts of the remaining PDCs are not known while an amount of Rs 46 lakh is still in the account of Mohanty,” Dwibedy said.