Orissa HC sets April 10 for final order on Pratap Jena’s petition

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Thursday fixed April 10 for passing the final order on the plea of BJD MLA and former minister Pratap Jena seeking quashing of the order of the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Salipur. The demand was made, which took cognizance of the offenses against him. As an accused in the Mahanga double murder case.

A single-judge bench of Justice Gauri Shankar Satapathy, after hearing all the parties, fixed the date and extended the interim protection granted to Jena by the High Court, when it first heard his plea, on November 2, 2023.
The former law minister had filed a petition on October 31, 2023, challenging the order on jurisdictional grounds. “In the interim, it is directed that no coercive action will be taken against the petitioner till then,” the order dated November 2, 2023, said. December 19, 2023.” Later, the interim order was extended while hearing Jena’s petition on different dates.
The hearing continued for more than two hours on Thursday as lawyers for the state government and the whistleblower in the case presented their arguments. The petitioner’s counsel, who had completed his arguments on March 15, also presented fresh arguments.

The JMFC order issued on September 24, 2023, said, “After perusing the statements of the complainant, witnesses and other available materials on record, it is found that prima facie the case constitutes an offense punishable under sections 302, 506, 120B Is.” Indian Penal Code is invoked against accused Pratap Jena.”
On January 2, 2021, unidentified miscreants brutally killed BJP leader Kulmani Baral, who was the block president of Mangha, and his aide Dibyasingha Baral while they were returning home on a motorcycle.
The case of double murder was first registered on the complaint of Ramakant Baral, son of deceased Kulmani Baral. Later after Ramakant’s death, his younger brother Ranjit re-filed the complaint.