New Delhi (ILNS): The Orissa High Court has refused to quash the criminal proceeding against the head of Infratech Pvt Ltd and BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda and his wife Jagi Mangat Panda in an alleged case of land grabbing by a company promoted by the family.
A single bench of Justice BT Routray rejected the petition filed by M/s Odisha Infratech Pvt. Ltd seeking the quashing of criminal proceeding under section 482 of CrPC.
The high court made it clear that this case of alleged land grabbing is serious and proceeding cannot be quashed in the present case.
The petition was filed on the ground that the accused are innocent and implicated under a political conspiracy. The high court held that the case was not part of political vendetta. The applicant’s lawyers could not prove their point in court.
Earlier, the Khurda district and sessions court had ordered the arrest of Panda and his wife in the case of wrongly acquiring seven acres of land in the name of the company. The Income Tax Department has been asked by Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to investigate the benami business.
Jagi Mangat Panda, MD of OTV and wife of Baijayant Panda issued a statement saying that the state government had implicated him due to personal enmity. Within the last two months, more than 20 cases have been registered against OTV and its affiliates. They have being targeted since the BJD government opened its mouth against corruption and after Baijayant Panda joined the BJP. The government is taking such action in panic after the news of government corruption and COVID fund scam was aired on OTV.