CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of editor-in-chief of Focus Plus TV channel Sudhanshu Sekhar Rout in connection with a case registered at Capital police station over alleged defamatory remarks against School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond.
Taking note of the materials collected during the investigation, including statements recorded by police, Justice V Narasingh declined to grant Rout the pre-arrest bail.
The case relates to an alleged incident on July 12 during an Odisha Swabhiman Mancha programme. According to the FIR, Rout allegedly claimed that Gond had attempted to bribe him to suppress reports concerning alleged errors in school textbooks.
A case was registered on July 14. Rout’s counsel argued that even if the allegations were accepted at face value, his custodial interrogation was not warranted. His counsel also contended that the allegations were ex facie improbable and that some co-accused had already secured bail.
Opposing the plea, the state referred to Rout’s criminal antecedents, submitting that 20 cases had been registered against him at different police stations.
After perusing the statement of a correspondent working under Rout, recorded under section 183 of the BNSS, and other statements, the court held that it was “not inclined to entertain” the plea for pre-arrest bail. The court, however, clarified that its observations were confined to consideration of the bail application and should not be construed as an opinion on Rout’s complicity.