In a significant ruling, the Odisha High Court on Thursday disposed of the bail application of arrested former Advocate General (AG) Asok Mohanty and directed him to move the Khordha District and Sessions Court in Bhubaneswar for bail.
The High Court also directed that if approached, the district court shall consider the bail application of Mohanty in the first hour of Friday and ensure that the certified copy of the order is made available to the counsels of Mohanty before 1 pm the same day.
In case Mohanty fails to obtain bail from the lower court, he is at liberty to approach the High Court, said a single-judge Bench of Justice SK Mishra. Accordingly, the High Court, in addition, asked the designated CBI court in Bhubaneswar to submit all the case records and relevant documents before the district court in the first hour of Friday. Similarly, the CBI counsel present in the court too was directed by the High Court to remain present in the Sessions court along with the updated case diary.
Mohanty, who had relinquished his position of AG on September 12, was arrested by the CBI on September 22 in connection with his alleged fraudulent link with AT Group chit fund company CMD Pradeep Sethy. After taking Mohanty on remand for two days, he was produced before the CBI court on Wednesday and the court remanded him to judicial custody after rejecting his bail.
Although the lawyers of the High Court ceased work for two days in protest against Mohanty’s arrest, his bail application was moved in the High Court on Friday by his counsels Deepali Mohapatra and Sujata Jena. While noted criminal advocate Dharanidhar Nayak argued Mohanty’s case, the CBI was represented by its counsel KP Mishra.