New Delhi/Cuttack: The Supreme Court has sought response on former Odisha MP Anubhav Mohanty’s plea seeking quashing of harassment proceedings initiated by his ex-wife, Varsha Priyadarshini.
Notices have been issued to the former Kendrapada MP and actor, his ex-wife, and the Odisha government.
A Bench comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vijay Bishnoi passed the order while hearing Special Leave Petition (Criminal) in which Anubhav challenged the maintainability of the criminal harassment proceedings pending against him, contending that the case is legally unsustainable and warrants intervention by the apex court.
The actor-turned-politician moved the SC after the Orissa High Court in January 2026 rejected his plea challenging the framing of charges in the dowry harassment case, allowing the trial before the competent court to continue.
Anubhav was granted divorce by the HC in December 2023, overturning an earlier September 2023 ruling by the Cuttack Family Court, which had initially dismissed his plea.
Background of the high-profile marital dispute
Following a divorce petition by Anubhav in July 2020 on grounds of cruelty and non-consummation of their marriage, Varsha filed a complaint in December 2020 at Purighat Police Station in Cuttack, alleging that her then-husband and two of his associates had wrongfully restrained and locked her in a room inside his parental house at Nandi Sahi on the night of December 18.
The case involved charges under IPC sections such as 498A (husband or relative subjecting woman to cruelty), 509 (insulting modesty of woman), 341 (wrongful restraint), 294 (obscene acts), and 506 (criminal intimidation). Charges were framed against Anubhav and a co-accused in May 2024 by a Special MP/MLA Court in Cuttack, with trial proceedings advancing despite multiple adjournments and interim orders, including a non-bailable warrant issued at one stage.
A separate domestic violence petition under the DV Act filed by Varsha was later dismissed by a Cuttack court in April 2025, citing generalised and self-contradictory statements.
