New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: In a jolt to senior Odisha-cadre IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected his anticipatory bail application in connection with a bribery case of CBI involving the Bridge and Roof Company Ltd.
The rejection by the ape court clears the way for a possible arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the Orissa High Court had earlier dismissed his plea in the bribery case.
The senior bureaucrat had moved the apex court to avoid arrest in connection with the bribery case. In February this year, a CBI team had raided his official quarters in Bhubaneswar, suspecting his involvement in the case.
Sources said the CBI appears to have gathered substantial preliminary evidence which could have led to the rejection of the Sethi’s anticipatory bail plea.
It may be recalled that a special CBI team had conducted simultaneous raids at Sethi’s official residence and ancestral house. The raids were driven by evidence of a bribery transaction that reportedly took place near a hotel in Bhubaneswar. During the operation, Rs ten lakh in cash was seized from a car at the scene.
In connection with the high-profile case, CBI has already arrested Chanchal Mukherjee, Director of Bridge & Roof Company, along with Debadatta Mahapatra, owner of Aditya Dev Infratech Pvt Ltd, and Santosh Maharana, Director of Penta A Studio Pvt Ltd.
The senior bureaucrat was not immediately available for comment following the Supreme Court’s verdict.
The case relates to the incident on December 8, 2024, when the CBI apprehended Chanchal Mukherjee while allegedly accepting Rs ten lakh bribe from a contractor near a prominent hotel in Bhubaneswar
During the course of the investigation, the name of Bishnupada Sethi surfaced, leading the CBI to conduct a raid on his official quarters in February 2025. Sethi publicly denied any wrongdoing, claiming he was being framed in a politically motivated conspiracy.
The CBI had earlier summoned Sethi to depose before it for investigation into the bribery case for his alleged link with Mukherjee and two other accused—Debadutta Mohapatra and Santosh Moharana.
