Social activist Alok Jena, the petitioner in the Odisha chit fund scam case in the Supreme Court, and RTI activist Jayant Kumar Das have questioned the decision of the Odisha High Court Bar Association members to go on a two-day cease-work to protest the arrest of former Advocate General Asok Mohanty by the CBI for his alleged links with the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group CMD Pradeep Sethy.
Asking why the lawyers did not protest when Mohanty was interrogated and afterwards arrested, Jena and Das alleged that the lawyer’s act is “nothing but to put pressure on the CBI and the judiciary”. Starting that the West Bengal law Minister is now facing charge of contempt of court from the Supreme Court for protesting against a CBI investigation, the two activists asked whether the former Advocate General is above the Constitution and the Supreme Court. They said, “The lawyers must know that the CBI is investigating a mega chit fund scam at the direction of the Supreme Court. Where had the lawyers gone when millions of people were looted by chit fund operatorsIJ”
“A few lawyers have organised this protest with the support of some political leaders in power who are involved in chit fund scam,” Jena and Das alleged, adding that millions of people of Odisha are appreciating the arrest of the former AG.