Supreme Court: In a special leave to appeal filed by Member of legislative Assembly and BJP leader Jayanarayan Mishra against the judgment and order passed by the Orissa High Court, wherein the Court denied him anticipatory bail in case for outraging the modesty of a woman, defamation, obscenity, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint and using criminal force on a public servant, the division bench of Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra, JJ. while granting interim protection from arrest to Jayanarayan Mishra, also sought response of the Odisha government in the matter within four weeks
On 15-02-2023, BJP organised a protest in front of the Sambalpur Collectorate. The agitators were stopped by the police when they rushed towards the office gate. A female police officer approached Jayanarayan Mishra, but he allegedly used disrespectful language against her, touched her inappropriately, and slapped her. Thereafter, an FIR was lodged against him. However, he denied all the allegations and alleged that it was the woman officer who had misbehaved with him.
It was submitted that during last nearly one year, the petitioner who is an MLA and, the Leader of the Opposition in the Odisha Legislative Assembly is performing his usual duties, and the Police never had any occasion to summon him in connection with the incident. Further, the High Court should have considered the petitioner for pre-arrest bail since custodial interrogation may not be necessary, considering the nature of the allegations made against him and the available videography evidence.
The Court, while granting interim protection from arrest to Jayanarayan Mishra, issued notice and Dasti notice to the Standing Counsel for the State.
The matter will next be taken up in four weeks.
[Jayanarayan Mishra v State of Odisha, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 93, Order dated 31-01-2024]
Image Source: Jaya Narayan Mishra/Facebook
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For Petitioner(s): Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, Advocate Sarthak Nayak, Advocate Satish Kumar
