CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has indicted the courts of Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) at Jagatsinghpur and Bhubaneswar for "lackadaisical manner" of functioning for which head of Artha Tatwa (AT) Group Pradeep Kumar Sethy, accused in multi-crore chit fund scam, was deprived from moving for bail for nine years.
After an FIR was registered at the Jagatsinghpur police station, the investigating officer (IO) prayed before the SDJM, Jagatsinghpur for remand of Sethy on June 25, 2013. On that day, the SDJM Jagatsinghpur in an order sent a message to the SDJM Bhubaneswar asking whether Sethy, who was in custody at Kharavelnagar police station in Bhubaneswar, could be spared to his court.
The chargesheet in the case was filed on August 6, 2013, but Sethy was never produced physically or remanded in that case. His bail plea was rejected by the Sessions Court on that ground on February 16, 2022. Sethy had then moved the HC for bail in that case.
While granting bail Justice Sashikanta Mishra said, "Before parting with the case, this court deems it proper to call for reports from SDJM Jagatsinghpur and SDJM Bhubaneswar explaining as to under what circumstances and for what reason the order passed by SDJM Jagatsinghpur on June 25, 2013 was not acted upon for as long as nine years."
"The lackadaisical manner in which the matter has been dealt with is a case for serious concern as it strikes at certain fundamental pillars of not only criminal procedure but also the Constitutional principles of liberty," Justice Mishra observed in his July 14 order. "This is a classic case where the petitioner, for no fault of his own, was deprived of making a legitimate prayer for being released on bail," he observed.