Bhubaneswar, Jan 31: The special Vigilance Court on Wednesday framed charges against Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy and his spouse in connection with amassing disproportionate assets.
Earlier, the Vigilance Court had filed charge sheet against the legislator and his spouse in the court on April 20, 2023, acting upon a case initiated by the Lokayukta.
The case was registered against the couple under Sections 13(1) & 13(2) of the 12 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Prevention .of Corrption. (Amendment) Act, 2018 on the orders of Odisha Lokayukta for possession of assets disproportionate to known sources of income by the duo.
During investigation, Panigrahy was found in possession of assets disproportionate to the tune of over Rs 9.18 crore which he could not explain satisfactorily. A huge cache of assets were also unearthed from the possession of Panigrahy’s spouse. Accordingly, the case diary and charge sheet were filed before the Lokayukta on June 9, 2022.
After examining the investigation report, the Lokayukta had ordered for submission of charge sheet against them in the Vigilance court. Acting on it the Vigilance directorate had submitted a 3000-page charge sheet in the Special Vigilance court.
