In a huge setback to BJP’s national vice president, Baijayant Jay Panda, and his wife Jagi Mangat Panda, the Orissa High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against the duo in a land grab case. The single-judge bench of Justice Justice BP Routray held that it would not right for the court to interfere ‘with the criminal proceeding, more particularly at the stage of pending investigation and accordingly, the prayer of the petitioners is rejected and the Criminal Misc. Case is dismissed.”
According to the complaint, Odisha Infratech Pvt Ltd, owned by Panda duo, grabbed land belonging to people from the Dalit community.
Last month, the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha police had booked the Panda duo on the complaint of one Rabindra Kumar Sethi, who was a former driver in Panda’s company ORTEL Communication Ltd. He sensationally alleged that the Pandas had forced him to purchase 7.294 acres of land from 22 owners belonging to the Dalit community in Odisha’s Khurda district between 2010 and 2013. This, according to Sethi, was to bypass the Odisha Land Reform Act and Land Revenue Act, barring non-Dalits from buying land from Dalits without the prior permission of the district collector.
LIVE UPDATES on today’s big stories will appear below:
20:10 PM: BJP will form govt in Maharashtra in next 2-3 months for which it has made preparations, says senior party leader and Union minister Raosaheb Danve, reports PTI.
18:11 PM: Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi dies at the age of 84: Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. (PTI)
17:48 PM: Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid alleges before court in Delhi that his custody in case related to northeast Delhi riots in February was extended ‘illegally’, ‘mechanically’ and without prior intimation to his lawyers. (PTI)
17:41 PM: Two persons were killed & another injured after three bike-borne assailants suddenly opened fire at a group of people in #Bihar’s Saran district, police said. One of the attackers was nabbed by villagers & badly beaten, leading to his death. (IANS)
16:42 PM: Haryana Police books Panipat SP Manisha Choudhary, two other police officials for allegedly abetting suicide of a former municipal councillor: Official. (PTI)
16:08 PM: Bihar has become the unemployment capital of the country. The public can’t wait anymore. If they are unable to provide 19 lakh jobs in the first month, then we will join the public in protests across the state: Tejashwi Yadav, RJD Leader. (ANI)
15:32 PM: The #delhihighcourt on Monday sought response from the #AAP government and others over a petition against an order for felling of of 315 trees for redevelopment of Ayur Vigyan Nagar in the national capital. (IANS)
14:43 PM: Maharashtra: Three accused who were arrested for attacking NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and his team, have been sent to 14-day judicial custody. (ANI)
14:33 PM: Mumbai court grants bail to comedian Bharti Singh and husband Harsh Limbachiya in drugs case. (PTI)
14:29 PM: Maharashtra: Three people arrested in connection with the incident where NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and his team were attacked allegedly by drug peddlers in Goregaon, Mumbai last evening. Two officers were injured. Further investigation is underway. (ANI)
13:31 PM: Bihar: Three people allegedly shot dead and one critically injured in Motiraj Pur village in Chhapra yesterday. “There seems to be a conspiracy. Three people – including one of the attackers and two villagers – died. Further investigation is underway,” says police. (ANI)
12:36 PM: Bihar: Congress MLAs protest at Vidhan Sabha premises in Patna, over the incident where a 20-year-old girl in Vaishali district was allegedly burnt to death earlier this month. (ANI)
Bihar: Congress MLAs protest at Vidhan Sabha premises in Patna, over the incident where a 20-year-old girl in Vaishali district was allegedly burnt to death earlier this month. pic.twitter.com/uLr71Bw5dX
— ANI (@ANI) November 23, 2020
11:28 AM: After Delhi and Maharashtra, COVID-19 situation in Gujarat has also worsened and it is going out of control: SC. (PTI)
10:49 AM: Single day rise of 44,059 new COVID-19 cases, 511 fatalities pushes India’s virus caseload to 91,39,865, death toll to 1,33,738: Govt. (PTI)
09:46 AM: Bihar: Eight persons arrested for allegedly producing illicit liquor in Muzaffarpur, yesterday. Police say, “Illicit liquor and Rs 4.20 lakhs cash have been seized from their possession. Further action will be taken.” (ANI)
07:34 AM: The first session of the newly-elected Bihar assembly will be held today. The BJP-JDU combined had secured a wafer-thin majority in the elections.
