CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Thursday fixed April 10 for passing final order on BJD MLA and former minister Pratap Jena’s plea seeking quashing of the order of the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Salipur that had taken cognisance of offences against him as an accused in the Mahanga double murder case.
The single judge bench of Justice Gourishankar Satapathy fixed the date after hearing all parties and extended till then the interim protection granted to Jena by the high court when he had first taken up his petition on November 2, 2023.
The former law minister had filed the petition challenging the order on grounds of jurisdiction on October 31, 2023. The order issued on November 2, 2023 said, “As an interim, it is directed that no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner till December 19, 2023.” The interim order was subsequently extended while hearing Jena’s petition on different dates.
The hearing on Thursday continued for over two hours with counsels for state government and informant in the case presenting their arguments. The petitioner counsel who had concluded his arguments on March 15 also presented fresh arguments.
The JMFC’s order issued on September 24, 2023 said, “After going through the statements of the complainant, witnesses and other available materials on record, it found that a prima facie case punishable for the offences under sections 302, 506, 120 B of the Indian Penal Code is made against the accused Pratap Jena.”
On January 2, 2021, unidentified miscreants brutally killed BJP leader Kulamani Baral, who was the block chairman of Mahanga, and his associate Dibyasingha Baral while they were returning home on a motorcycle.
The double murder case was first registered on the complaint filed by Ramakant Baral, son of deceased Kulamani Baral. Later after Ramakant’s death, the complaint was renewed by his younger brother Ranjit.