The petition filed by the police in the Judicial First Class Magistrate court, Payyanur, pleading to summon the father and mother of Bitti Mohanty from Rajasthan to take their blood samples to conduct DNA test, to prove his identity, was opposed by the counsel for the latter on Wednesday.
Bitti’s counsel, Nicholas Joseph, filed a counter-petition in the court objecting the police move. The counsel stated in the counter-petition that citizens who weren’t involved in any act of crime or offence couldn’t be summoned to the court for the purpose of taking their blood samples or to conduct DNA test without their consent.
“Issuing summons to bring them to the court to take their blood samples will be a violation of their legal rights as individuals,” argued Bitti’s counsel.
The JFCM court Payyanur will take up the issue for further consideration on June 10. At the same time, the stay on the decision of the Additional Sessions court, Thalassery, allowing the request for a DNA test on Bitti, was extended to 10 more days by the High court. A petition filed earlier by the prosecution in the JFCM court, Payyanur, seeking permission to conduct DNA test on Bitti, had been rejected by the court. An appeal filed by the prosecution against this decision was allowed by the Additional Sessions court, Thalassery. This was later stayed by the HC following an appeal against the orders of the Sessions court.
Bitti Mohanty, son of former DGP of Odisha, was arrested by the police here while he was working as a probationary officer at the Madayi branch of the State Bank of India using the identity of ‘Raghav Rajan’, after he jumped parole while undergoing imprisonment in Jaipur jail for raping a German woman.
He had been sentenced to seven year’s imprisonment in the rape case. The unexpected re-arrest of Bitti in Kannur six years after his escape from jail was another dramatic development in the sensational rape case. Bitti was taken back to Rajasthan by the police on the basis of a production warrant issued by the Jaipur court a few days ago. Bitti is facing charges of impersonation, forgery and cheating. An attempt is being made by the police to transfer the case to Rajasthan. Even as establishing Bitti’s identity has remained a tough task for the police, legal circles point out that the move to shift the case against him to Rajasthan isn’t legally sustainable, as the offences took place here.