HC Directs Bhubaneswar DCP To Probe Verbal Abuses Charges Against Varsha Priyadarshini

Cuttack: The Orissa Hight Court has directed Bhubaneswar DCP to ascertain the veracity of casteist remarks allegation against actor Varsha Priyadarshini under the SC/ST Act (when a person not belonging to an SC or ST intentionally insults, with intent to humiliate, a member of an SC or ST in any place within public view).

Usha Nayak, a resident of Bhubaneswar, had accused the actor of abusing her and moved HC on September 25, 2022, over alleged police inaction on her complaint lodged at Chandrashekharpur police station on September 1, 2022. The 38-year-old petitioner said that the IIC of the police station refused to register an FIR in this regard. No action was taken on the complaint sent to the DCP via speed post, she further alleged.

While the state counsel argued that numerous such complaints have been filed at different police stations at the behest of some persons, the single-judge bench of Justice S K Panigrahi asked the DCP to conduct a proper inquiry into the matter and submit a report by January 16.

Notably, the Delhi Police had registered an FIR against Varsha under the SC/ST Act for allegedly abusing the staff of her estranged husband and BJD MP Anubhav Mohanty. The incident took place in the national capital on July 9, 2019.

Hearing the anticipatory bail plea, HC had earlier granted interim relief to the actor, her mother and her niece in connection with the case.

The actor was also accused of fraud by a woman, who in her police complaint alleged that she duped her of Rs 30,000 on the pretext of providing a job in a jewellery shop in Bhubaneswar. She had then dismissed the allegations and threatened to take a legal route to ensure that her conspirators are punished.