JE sit-up row: Odisha HC defers Patnagarh MLA’s bail plea hearing

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court (HC) today deferred the hearing of an anticipatory bail petition of Patnagarh MLA Saroj Meher, who landed in controversy earlier this month after forcing a junior engineer to do sit-up as punishment for poor quality road construction work.

The court also asked the police to submit a case diary in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, the BJP state unit slammed the state Government alleging that the latter is shielding the BJD MLA. At a Presser, BJP Spokesperson Lekhashri Samantsinghar demanded a clarification from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the issue and immediate arrest of the legislator.

On the other hand, the Bolangir District Tribal Welfare Association has threatened to gherao the Sub-collector and SDPO offices tomorrow and the Odisha Assembly on June 26.

Worth mentioning, PWD Junior Engineer Jaykant Sabar was forced to do sit-up by the MLA in Patnagarh area for poor quality road construction work. The incident came to fore after a video of the same went viral on social media on June 6.

Later, a case was lodged against the legislator at Patnagarh police station though he later tendered an apology for his unruly behaviour.