Orissa HC Rejects Advance Bail Plea Of Senior IAS Officer Bishnupada Sethi
The case relates to the recovery of Rs 10 lakh by the CBI in December last year from one middleman, Debadatta Mohapatra.
Published : July 29, 2025 at 12:18 AM IST
Cuttack: Trouble mounted for suspended senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi, booked by the CBI in a corruption case, after the Orissa High Court rejected his anticipatory bail application on Monday.
“Considering that the Petitioner is a Senior Officer in the rank of Indian Administrative Service, this Court finds force in the submission of the learned counsel for the CBI that his interrogation being ‘ensconced’ by an order of anticipatory bail would be a fruitless exercise in the light of the materials unearthed,” said the HC order passed by Justice V Narasingh.
“It is often said that the power of corruption is like a shadow; it follows those who wield power. The Petitioner undoubtedly has the power of being a senior official of the Indian Administrative Service.
On a conspectus of materials on record, whether corruption is his shadow merits a probe unhindered and unimpeded by the exceptional remedy of pre-arrest bail,” the order said, rejecting the advance bail application of Sethi.
The order further said that the interim order in the case passed on July 3 this year, in which Sethi was given protection from any coercive action by the CBI, stands vacated. This suggests that the CBI is now free to arrest Sethi for custodial interrogation.
The case relates to the recovery of Rs 10 lakh by the CBI in December last year from one middleman, Debadatta Mohapatra, who had received the amount from the Director of Bridge and Roof Company, Chanchal Mukherjee, on behalf of Sethi.
The company had won a bid to develop the SC and ST schools of Odisha at a cost of over Rs 37 crores, and Sethi was the secretary of the SC and ST department at that time.
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