BHUBANESWAR: A Former deputy manager-ranked officer of Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (OPHWC) - arrested for amassing disproportionate assets 1,000 per cent over known sources of his income - was granted bail after the anti-corruption agency failed to file chargesheet within 60 days.
The Special Judge Vigilance Court here on Monday granted default bail to Pratap Kumar Samal whose assets were billed as one of the highest disproportionate unearthed in the State by the Vigilance Directorate.
“Samal was produced in a court on November 10 last year. As Vigilance did not file the chargesheet within 60 days, he was granted default bail under Section 167(2) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” said a lawyer.
According to Section 167(2) of the CrPC, a person in judicial custody has a right to bail when the police fail to complete an investigation within a specified period of time.
The Supreme Court had earlier observed that the accused gets an indefeasible right to default bail if he/she makes an application after the maximum period for investigation of an offence is over, and before a chargesheet is filed. “Samal can now not be arrested until the trial of the case is over,” the lawyer added.
The anti-corruption wing had traced illegal movable and immovable property amounting to over Rs 14.87 crore allegedly accumulated by Samal which was 1,021 per cent of his known sources of income. His residential and office premises had come under raid by the Vigilance officers on November 9, 2021, and he was arrested the next day.
Meanwhile, a Vigilance officer said they have to collect detailed evidence in connection with the case as Samal was found in possession of disproportionate assets amounting to over Rs 14 crore, and it is a time-consuming process.
Samal had completed his diploma in civil engineering in Bhadrak in 1987 and joined OPHWC on August 14, 1988, as a junior engineer in Bhubaneswar head office. In 2019, he joined as a deputy manager in the Bhubaneswar office. The State government had ordered the compulsory retirement of Samal on November 18, 2021.