CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Friday directed Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M to file an affidavit further explaining his conduct after he admitted to making public comments linking an ongoing murder probe into the murder of advocate and BJP member Pitabasa Panda to an election petition pending before the court.
A single judge bench of Justice Sashikanta Mishra passed the order after perusing an explanation submitted by the SP in compliance with the court’s October 31 direction.
The explanation, addressed to the High Court’s Registrar General, had been placed before the bench by the registry. “After going through the explanation, it appears that the SP has admitted to giving statements referring to the pending election petition before the press,” Justice Mishra said. “Let him file an affidavit further explaining his conduct. Such affidavit should be filed by 10th November, 2025,” Justice Mishra directed, listing the matter for hearing on November 11.
The bench further clarified that “whether the conduct amounts to contempt or not will be considered by this court after receiving the affidavit.” The court also ordered that the SP ‘shall appear in person before this court at 10.30 am’ on the next date of hearing. A free copy of the order was handed over to the state counsel for compliance and the registry was directed to communicate it to the Berhampur SP forthwith.
The direction comes in continuation of the court’s earlier order on October 31 when it had sought an explanation from the SP over his reported public comments linking the murder investigation to an election petition pending before the high court.
The matter pertains to an election petition filed by voter Manoj Kumar Panda challenging the election of BJP MLA K Anil Kumar from Berhampur Assembly constituency. During the October 31 hearing, Panda had alleged in an affidavit that he was illegally detained and interrogated by police officials about the petition, claiming he was ‘forcibly picked up’ and questioned ‘as to why he had filed the election petition against the sitting MLA of Berhampur.’
The court had also taken serious note of a newspaper report quoting the Berhampur SP as saying at a press conference: “During the investigation, an election petition emerged as a common link between Bikram Panda and Siba Shankar Dash... The legal expense and advocate fees for ‘pursuing the election petition were being borne by Bikram Panda,’ the SP said.”
Justice Mishra had then observed that ‘if true, it is indeed disturbing to observe that a police officer as senior as the SP chose to publicly comment on an ongoing election dispute before this court’.