House Panel To Submit Report On Abhijit Iyer Mitra In State Assembly Tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: The House Committee will submit its report on the anti-Odisha remarks by research scholar Abhijit Iyer Mitra at the opening session of the winter session of the State Assembly beginning Friday.

“The House Committee has prepared the reports on this matter and will submit the report in the State Assembly tomorrow,” Chairman of the Committee and leader of the Opposition, Narasingha Mishra told mediapersons after presiding over the meeting of the Committee at the State Assembly here on Thursday.

He said 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, the Chief Minister and the legislators during the privilege
motion moved by the Congress during the monsoon session of the State Assembly.

The meeting decided that the House Committee will probe the matter and submit its report in the State Assembly on the first day of the winter session.

After his first appearance before the House Committee of the State Assembly on October 23, the Saheed Nagar police had arrested Abhijit on the same day and produced him before the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court in Bhubaneswar, which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days till November 5. The police had later sent him to Jharpada jail.

On October 25, the Konark Police had taken Abhijit on a four-day remand to interrogate him over his derogatory remarks against the Sun Temple and about his aerial tour to Konark.

The House Committee on October 23 had asked Abhijit to appear in person on November 2 and submit an affidavit. Acting on the directive of the committee, he had appeared on November 2. But as he had failed to submit the affidavit, the court had asked him to appear again on the next day with the affidavit, which he did.

The research scholar is now lodged in Jharpada Jail.