Cuttack, July 18:The Orissa High Court on Friday extended the interim protection of former IAS Officer Bishnupada Sethi in connection with the high profile bribery case initiated by the CBI.
A bench of the Orissa High Court while disposing of Sethi’s Anticipatory bail pleas today, granted Sethi the interim protection against coercive action against him,during the ongoing CBI investigation.
Apart from it, the verdict on the anticipatory bail pleas of the veteran IAS officer was reserved after final hearing.
The CBI case against Sethi stems from a crackdown on bribery on December 8, 2024.The CBI caught Director, Bridge and Roof Company Ltd., Chanchal Mukherjee red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe from a contractor in a hotel in Bhubaneswar.Along with Chanchal, the CBI arrested the contractor Santosh Maharana and a middleman identified as Debadatta Mahapatra and launched an investigation into the matter.
During the probe, the name senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi surfaced. In February this year, an 8-member CBI team raided Sethi’s official quarters as a part of the investigation. Following the raid, Bishnupada Sethi resigned from his post.
Earlier this month, the Orissa High Court had directed that Sethi would be provided interim security amid growing legal and political scrutiny.
