Odisha HC grants anticipatory bail to Chitra Athwani

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Sep 11:

The Odisha High Court today granted anticipatory bail to Chitra Athwani, the companion of arrested vice chairman of the Deccan Chronicle Group PK Iyer, who was wanted by the Commissionerate Police in connection with Iyer’s arrest from a star hotel in Bhubaneswar in June this year.

Adjudicating over the case, the court granted anticipatory bail to the petitioner, Chitra Athwani today.

Athwani had moved the anticipatory bail application on June 25 this year after the city police summoned her for questioning. On behalf of the petitioner, her lawyer Partha Mukherji had moved the anticipatory bail plea in the High Court.

The anticipatory bail (9240 of 2015) was listed to be heard on August 7. However, the court posted the final hearing to today.

Earlier, the High Court had granted interim protection to Athwani from appearing before the Commissionerate Police to record her statement till August 7.

The court had granted interim protection to her till August 7 while adjudicating on her anticipatory bail plea and had directed her to depose before the investigating officer by that date.

The Commissionerate Police had summoned Athwani, a former air hostess, for questioning as the room occupied by Iyer was booked on her name.

Commissionerate police was investigating the nature of the relationship between PK Iyer and Chitra Athwani since the latter was arrested from the room booked in her name on June 6.

During investigation, police found that Iyer had first arrived at the hotel with Chitra at about 2 am on February 14. They had stayed together for 10 days before Chitra left the hotel.

Iyer, however, booked a hotel room in the same hotel in her name and continued to stay till he was arrested by the Commissionerate Police in connection with multi-hundred crore bank loan scam in Hyderabad.