BHUBANESWAR: Union MSME Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi on Friday appeared before ADJ-III Court and JMFC Court here in connection with two cases registered against him. Sarangi appeared in JMFC Court in connection with a case registered against him in Nilagiri. The case dates back to 2004 when Sarangi and his supporters had entered into a heated exchange of words with a group over performing last rites of an elderly woman.
The group had allegedly opposed Sarangi and his supporters to perform last rites of the woman near their village. Similarly, the trial of another case registered against Sarangi under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was going on in Balasore Additional Sessions Judge Court since 2011 before being transferred to a court here recently.
“Both cases are manufactured. Since the matter is sub judice, I will not comment on it,” Sarangi told media persons.“As per the order of Orissa High Court, hearings of all cases registered against political leaders in the State are being conducted in a Special Court here. The two cases registered against Pratap Chandra Sarangi were also transferred here, following which he appeared on Friday,” said Sarangi’s lawyer Bijay Singh.