CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Bhubaneswar-based Antaryami Mishra “for unnecessarily wasting the valuable time of the court” by filing a petition claiming that though his name was included in the Padma Shri awardee list, which was declared on January 25, 2023, another person had secured it by impersonating him.
While dismissing the petition on Wednesday, Justice SK Panigrahi said, “Considering the facts and submissions made, this court is of the view that the petitioner has approached this court on the basis of some phone calls from somebody stating that he is the recipient of the ‘Padma Shri Award’ for the year 2023 in the field of literature & education.”
Justice Panigrahi said, despite being given several opportunities to place on record all the documents to establish his claim, the petitioner failed to submit any document where his name had figured as the Padma Shri awardee.
“This shows that the petitioner has unnecessarily created controversy and also demeaned the prestige of the award and tried to malign the image of Antaryami Mishra, an author of many textbooks who received the Padma Shri Award for 2023,” he stated.
The petitioner has been directed to pay the Rs 10,000 fine imposed on him to the Orissa High Court Bar Association, Cuttack within a period of 10 days. The money will be used for purchasing books by the Bar.