HC upholds Orissa decision on probe into Kandhamal

BHUNANESHWAR: The Orissa high court endorsed on Monday the state government’s decision to appoint retired high court judge and former lokpal Sarat Chandra Mohapatra to probe the Kandhamal violence that followed the alleged lynching of 86-year-old VHP leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati and his four followers on August 23.

Dismissing a public interest litigation filed by Utkal Christian Council challenging the appointment of the one-man judicial commission, a division bench of the high court comprising justices BS Chauhan and BN Mohapatra made it clear the commission of inquiry did not come in the purview of the word “employment” as it was not a government service.

The council, which had challenged the appointment on November 7, has now decided to move the supreme court. Its contention is as per section 5 of the Lokpal Act, persons holding the offices of lokpal or lokayukta are ineligible for further “employment” under the state government after their tenures end.

Meanwhile, a central team led by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar was to reach here by evening to discuss Kandhamal with chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The team would proceed to the troubled district on Tuesday.

To speed up inquiry into the alleged rape of a nun in Kandhamal, an Orissa crime branch team left for Delhi on Monday. It will try to contact the nun, who is staying in the capital, and get her blood sample for a DNA test.
subhashish_m@yahoo.com