Bhubaneswar: Are Sambalpur BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra or the Odisha Governor’s son above law? asked senior BJD leader Pratap Deb on Friday while questioning police inaction after the Supreme Court denied pre-arrest bail to the legislator accused of slapping a woman police officer during a protest in 2023.
“By not respecting the SC verdict and arresting him, the state government is sending across the message that their legislators are above law. I would like to ask the Chief Minister, who holds the Home portfolio, if law is the same for all in Odisha or not?” he asked at a presser.
The BJD MLA from Aul also questioned the silence of Odisha Police in connection with the case.
Deo further stated that Jayaranayan’s condescending statement on the slapgate incident following the verdict, reeks of arrogance. “If the government accepts the statement of the MLA then it is indirectly asking the police to provide protects to its party members. If law and order situation in the state deteriorates, the only person responsible for it will be the CM,” he added.
On Thursday, the BJP legislator said that he had set an example through the incident. “The BJD had registered the case to torture me. If a woman cop stamps my feet, will I not push her away? If police hit a common man, s/he should chase and hit the cop,” he asked.
He, however, refused to comment on the SC verdict.
After the Orissa High Court rejected his petition, seeking interim relief of anticipatory bail in the case, Jayanarayan had knock the doors of the SC for relief. A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti , however, dismissed his plea, considering prejudice likely to be caused to the investigation.
The victim and also the complainant in the case, inspector in-charge of Dhanupali police station Pradhan, had alleged that the BJP MLA assaulted her after accusing her of taking bribes, during a BJP protest in Sambalpur on February 15 last year.
