Orissa High Court Rejects Anticipatory Bail for Bishnupada Sethi in CBI Corruption Probe

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has denied anticipatory bail to suspended IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi in a corruption case under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Justice V Narasingh, presiding over a single-judge bench, overturned the interim protection granted to Sethi on July 3, which had temporarily shielded him from coercive action by the CBI.

The court ruled that granting pre-arrest bail would obstruct the investigation, stating, “ 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,”

The judge further remarked, ““It is often said that power of corruption is like a shadow, it follows those who wield power. The Petitioner undoubtedly has the power being a senior official of the Indian Administrative Service. On a conspectus of materials on record, whether corruption is his shadow merits probe unhindered and unimpeded by the exceptional remedy of pre-arrest bail.”

.The case involves allegations of corruption tied to a Rs 37 crore project awarded to Bridge and Roof Company for developing schools for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Odisha, during Sethi’s tenure as Secretary of the SC and ST Development Department.