Abhijit Iyer Mitra Seeks Protection For Meeting With House Panel In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Defence analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra, who laded in a soup over his alleged derogatory remarks on Sun Temple at Konark, has reportedly sought police protection to appear before the House Committee in the Odisha Assembly.

A six-member House Committee had summoned Abhijit on October 11 over his alleged breach of privilege and ‘derogatory remarks’.

While Opposition Narasingha Mishra is the chairperson of the Committee, Debi Prasad Mishra, KV Singhdeo, Pramila Mallick, Arun Sahu and Sanjay Dasburma are the other members. It is expected to submit the report on the first day of the next session of the State Assembly.

The decision to form the Committee was taken at the all-party meeting convened by the Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat on September 20 after the members cutting across the party lines vehemently protested and criticised the outrageous statement of Abhijit on Odisha, Lord Jagannath and the Chief Minister during the privilege motion moved by the Congress.

Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi told news agency that Abhijit’s lawyer Nikhil Mehra had applied for security on behalf of his client. “His counsel has said Abhijit will attend the House Committee meeting on October 11 and sought protection. We have forwarded the mail to DCP Bhubaneswar,” he said.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday refused to provide him protection from arrest while rejecting his bail plea. When Abhijit’s counsel argued about a threat to his life, the apex court Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said, “If your life is in danger then what better place to stay than jail? Your life will be secure.” The Bench further said that his comment incites religious feelings. “How are you entitled to bail?” it added.

On Thursday, Abhijit’s counsel Nikhil Mehra said that since the apex had rejected the extension of the interim bail period, he will not file a review petition on his behalf. “My client has decided to cooperate with the Odisha Police in the investigation,” he added.

Abhijit was arrested by the Odisha Police after being interrogated at the Nizamuddin Police Station in New Delhi on September 20, days after he posted a video of the temple on Twitter. Pointing to the erotic sculptures on the temple complex, Abhijit said: “Can this be a holy place? Not at all. This is a conspiracy against Hindus by Muslims who want to keep us down. Jai Sriram. In our new Ram temple, such obscene sculptures will not be there.”

Soon after, in another tweet, he clarified that it was a joke.

However, Twitterati dug up his earlier comments on Odisha and Lord Jagannath, which triggered widespread resentment across the state.

Following his arrest, the Metropolitan Magistrate of the Saket Court had granted conditional bail to him on a surety of Rs 1 lakh till September 28.

Watch: Abhijit Iyer Mitra’s Joy Ride Over Puri-Konark

The lower court had also directed Abhijit to appear at the Konark police station after September 28 in connection with a case registered against on the basis of a complaint by Bimbadhar Beura for his derogatory remarks on the Sun Temple.

On September 27, the apex court had extended Abhijit’s interim bail till October 5 and directed the Odisha Police to provide him with adequate protection if he needs to appear before the Orissa High Court during his visit to Odisha.

With his interim bail extended till October 5, Abhijit had skipped appearing at the Konark police station after September 28 as directed by the Delhi court.