CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to Sambalpur University’s Vice Chancellor Sanjiv Mittal in an abetment of suicide case registered against him by the Burla police.
A case was registered on April 21 under section 306 (abetment of suicide) over the death of a varsity contractual staff Dinabandhu Mishra, who had set himself on fire on the previous day.
He was working as a Technical Assistant on contractual basis since 1993 at the Sambalpur University. His son had lodged the FIR.
Granting pre-arrest bail, Justice S.K.Panigrahi said Considering the facts and circumstances and the materials so far collected by the prosecuting agency, it appears that if the petitioner is enlarged on anticipatory bail at this stage, it will not affect the investigation adversely.
“The petitioner is a noted educationist and he is a Vice-Chancellor of a reputed University throughout this period. No case has been made out warranting the petitioner's custodial interrogation and no reasonable apprehension lies that if the petitioner is released on bail, he is likely to abscond, therefore this court allows his prayer for anticipatory bail”, Justice Panigrahi said.
"In case the petitioner is arrested in connection with Burla P.S. Case No.251 of 2021, he shall be released on bail forthwith on his executing bond of Rs.25,000 with two sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court in with further condition that the petitioner shall cooperate with the investigation and shall not influence, coerce or intimidate any witness", the order said
Justice Panigrahi also allowed on identical conditions the separate anticipatory bail petitions filed by Assistant Director Sports & Physical Education Abinash Kar and Warden Biswajit Satpathy, against whom Burla police had also booked abetment of suicide cases.
