Cuttack: Berhampur SP Shravan Vivek M tendered an unconditional apology during his personal appearance before the Orissa High Court on Tuesday, over his controversial remark linking a pending election petition against the sitting Berhampur MLA to the murder of senior advocate and BJP leader Pitabas Panda.
The SP submitted a written apology, expressing regret for publicly referring to a matter that is currently sub judice, adding that he had no intention of undermining the authority of the court or influencing the ongoing investigation, sources said.
Taking his apology into consideration, the court decided to drop the ‘contempt of court’ proceedings against him, the sources added.
The Court Order
On November 7, the HC directed the Berhampur SP to file an affidavit further explaining his conduct by November 10 after he admitted to making public comments linking the ongoing murder probe to an election petition pending before the court. A single judge bench of Justice Sashikanta Mishra passed the order after perusing an explanation submitted by the SP in compliance with the court’s October 31 direction.
The bench also ordered the SP to appear in person before the court at 10.30 am on November 11.
What Did The SP Say?
While sharing details regarding the ongoing investigation into the October 6 murder, the Berhampur SP mentioned that an election petition had emerged as a common political link between former MLA Bikram Panda and former BeMC Mayor Siba Sankar Dash alias Pintu Das, who police alleged were the masterminds behind a criminal conspiracy to eliminate Pitabas Panda. “An election petition was filed on May 19, 2024, against the sitting MLA of Berhampur K Anil Kumar. The petition was filed in the name of a helper who works at Pintu Das’s residence. In reality, it was filed by Pintu Das himself. However, the legal expenses and advocate fees for pursuing the election petition were being borne by Bikram Panda,” the SP told presser while elaborating on how police established their involvement in the murder.
The Petitioner’s Plea
The election petition was filed by a voter, Manoj Kumar Panda, challenging the election of BJP MLA K Anil Kumar from Berhampur Assembly constituency. During the October 31 hearing, he claimed in an affidavit that he was unlawfully detained and interrogated by police about his reasons for filing the petition against the sitting MLA. The court also took note of a news report quoting the Berhampur SP from a press conference, and said: “If true, it is indeed disturbing to observe that a police officer as senior as the SP chose to publicly comment on an ongoing election dispute before this court”, and sought an explanation by November 7.