Odisha court rejects BJD MP Hansda’s bail plea

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Feb 21:

The District and session judge court here rejected the interim bail plea of Mayurbhanj MP Ram Chandra Hansda, who has been arrested by the CBI in connection with the Odisha chit fund scam.

After hearing arguments of the counsels for the CBI and the plaintiff on Hnasda’s plea seeking permission to attend the upcoming budget session of the Lok Sabha, the court had reserved the verdict for today.

The special CBI Court here had earlier rejected the interim bail plea of Hansda on February 12.

Hansda’s counsel Rabindra Nath Patsani had urged the court to grant an interim bail to enable him to attend the Parliament session citing that he could lose his seat if he fails to attend the session.

“After the CBI court rejected our bail plea, we had submitted a fresh petition to get bail in the higher court. Article 101 (4) of the Constitution says that his seat will be declared vacant if he does not attend the House for 60 days at a stretch,” Hansda’s lawyer said.

Notably, an MP should not remain absent for a period of 60 days without permission from the Speaker as it would lead to disqualification.

Hansdah, who was arrested by the CBI on November 4 last year in connection with his links with Nabadiganta Capital Services Pvt Ltd, was suspended from the BJD by party supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the day of his arrest.