Legal hassles for BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda and his entrepreneur-wife Jagi Mangat Panda have mounted further as the Orissa High Court has refused to quash an FIR registered against them under several Sections of IPC and the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the State Crime Branch over a land grab case. Dismissing a petition filed in this regard by the Odisha Infratech Pvt Ltd. of which the Panda couple is promoters, the court also vacated the interim protections given to them on November 5.
The court had restrained police from arresting the couple in connection with the case pending against them in a lower court arising out of an October 31 FIR registered by the EOW.
The FIR against the Pandas, inter alia, pertains to alleged fraud in purchase of lands on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar measuring over seven acres by their company between 2016 and 2019.
The FIR maintains that the lands, initially belonging to at least 22 dalit families, were purchased in the name of a company employee, who is also from the SC community and was used as a “sham purchaser”. Contesting the FIR, the company had argued that the land deal does not attract any provisions of IPC and the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“The alleged action may attract offence under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act,” the petitioner’s counsel had argued saying, “Even if the allegations are taken at their face value, they do not prima facie constitute an offence.”
Rejecting these arguments, the court said, “The allegation (in the FIR) prima facie satisfies the ingredients for offences under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.” Not inclined to interfere with the criminal proceedings at the investigation stage, the court rejected the prayer to quash the FIR.
It also vacated the interim protections given to the Panda couple.