House Committee Asks Abhijit Iyer Mitra To Appear On October 23

Bhubaneswar: Hours after receiving a letter of apology from journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra for his derogatory remarks against the Odisha, Sun Temple at Konark and Lord Jagannath, the House Committee of the State of Odisha on Thursday directed him to appear in person on October 23.

Talking to mediapersons after presiding over a meeting, chairperson of the House Committee, Narasingha Mishra said Abhijit, in an e-mail, had informed that he would appear before the House Committee today. “Instead of appearing in person before the Committee, he has sent another e-mail where he has apologised for his derogatory remarks. In the e-mail addressed to the Speaker, he has stated: “I beg sincere apology for the unpardonable crime that I had committed.”

Since he has not been able to appear in person due to the cyclonic storm, the House Committee has not considered his absence as a violation of its order,” Mishra said.

He said as the House Committee has decided to summon Abhijit to appear in person at 11 am on October 23, the Director General of Police (DGP) will serve him a notice very soon.

It may be recalled that on the last day of the monsoon session of the State Assembly on September 20, Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat had approved the formation of a six-member House Committee to be led by the leader of the Opposition, Narasingha Mishra as the chairperson with Debi Prasad Mishra, K. V. Singhdeo, Pramila Mallick, Arun Sahu and Sanjay Dasburma as other members to probe into the derogatory remarks of Abhijit.

The Committee will submit its report on the first day of the next session of the State Assembly.

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

The formation of the House Committee was decided at the all-party meeting convened by the Speaker after members cutting across party lines, had 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.

Both Abhijit and his journalist friend Arati Tikoo Singh had gone on an aerial tour to Konark and Puri with the former Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda on his private helicopter.