New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Abhijit Iyer Mitra, arrested by the Nizamuddin Police in New Delhi on Thursday afternoon, was later granted conditional bail by the Metropolitan Magistrate of the Saket Court till September 28.
The Court directed him to appear at the Konark police station after September 28 in connection with a case registered by the police following a complaint by Bimbadhar Beura for his derogatory remarks on the Sun Temple.
The court also rejected the appeal of the Odisha Police to take the journo on a transit remand to the state for further interrogation, as they failed to produce relevant evidence in the court.
Soon after his arrest, police took Abhijit to the hospital for a medical examination and later produced him before the Metropolitan Magistrate in the Saket court and made an appeal to take him on transit remand.
Placing their arguments in favour of Abhijit, nine lawyers appealed to the court to grant him bail while the public prosecutor of the Odisha government informed the court that granting bail to the journo would hurt the sentiments of the people of the state.
The court, after hearing the pleas of both the parties, said that since Abhijit had not appeared in the Marine police station in Puri on September 19, he should be given the opportunity to appear in the police station. It also directed Abhijit to appear in the Konark Police Station on September 28.
Abhijit’s derogatory remarks on Odisha, the Sun Temple of Konark and Lord Jagannath had triggered widespread resentment across the state.
Members cut across the party lines in the State Assembly during the privilege motion in the House earlier on the day demanding stringent action against Abhijit. Speaker Pradip Amat on Thursday approved the formation of a six-member House Committee led by the Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra to probe into the matter.
The approval for the formation of the House Committee was taken at the all-party meeting convened by the Speaker after adjourning the House.
It may be mentioned that the former Kendrapara MP Baijanant Panda had taken his friends Abhijit and another journalist Arati Tikoo Singh on a tour to Konark and Puri on his private helicopter recently.
