CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Thursday granted conditional bail to Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal, who was arrested by the CBI in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. The single judge bench of Justice JP Das granted the bail to Pal against a cash surety of Rs 1 crore along with two sureties of Rs 2 lakh each. The Judge also directed the Parliamentarian to surrender his passport and attend the trial as and when required by the court. Pal was was arrested in 2016 for his involvement in the scam.
Affidavit on Jagamohan
As per the direction of the High Court, the Archaeological Survey of Indian (ASI) on Thursday filed an affidavit indicating that the repair work of Jagamohan of Jagannath Temple in Puri will be completed by the end of February. For ‘Garuda Stambh’, the temple administration has provided space for repairing and the work has been completed, said the counsel for Sri Jagannath Temple Administration before the division bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice BK Nayak. So far as repair of Natya Mandap is concerned, the court has directed the core committee to inspect the same and suggest measures for its repair and submit a status report on March 6, the next date for hearing the case.
Order on water supply
A division bench of Orissa High Court comprising Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice BK Nayak directed the State Counsel to file an affidavit by an officer, not below the rank of an Additional Secretary, stating as to what steps have been taken by the Government regarding water supply in 21 districts.
The bench issued the order basing on a PIL writ petition filed by Maitree Sansad, a voluntary organisation of Cuttack, seeking a direction to the State to provide safe drinking water across Odisha. It was stated by the petitioner that as per earlier direction of the court, the Secretaries of different departments visited the districts to ascertain the status of water supply and submitted reports.
They suggested measures for development, but no action has been taken by the Government so far, the petitioner stated.