Odisha: Senior govt official under Vigilance scanner over DA charges

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Bhubaneswar, Aug 18 (IANS) The Odisha Vigilance on Monday unearthed assets worth crores during simultaneous searches at locations linked to a senior official of the state government on the allegations of amassing properties beyond his known sources of income.

The accused officer, Surendra Behera, is currently posted at Superintending Engineer, Irrigation Division, Angul district.

As per Vigilance sources, on the allegation of possession of assets disproportionate to the known sources of income, simultaneous house searches were conducted on the properties of Behera at eight places in Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Sundargarh, Angul and Ganjam on Monday.

The places where the house searches have been carried out include the paternal and in-laws houses in Purusottampur area of Ganjam district, government quarters and office room in Angul, etc.

“As many as eight teams of Odisha Vigilance comprising three Deputy Superintendents of Police, ten Inspectors, four Assistant Sub-Inspectors, and other supporting staff conducted the search on Monday the strength of Search Warrants issued by the Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Sundargarh,” said a senior vigilance officer.

During the searches, the vigilance sleuths found Behera and his family members are in possession of one triple storeyed building located at Sundargarh Town, worth over Rs1.11 crore, one double storeyed building at Rourkela, two flats in Bhubaneswar, four high value plots including one each in Sundargarh and Rourkela and two in Purusottampur area of Ganjam district, etc.

In another significant development, the Confiscation Court (Authorised Officer’s Court), Vigilance, Bhubaneswar, on Monday Passed order for the confiscation of the immovable and movable assets belong to Swarnalata Pradhan, widow of late Basanta Kumar Pradhan and the co-accused in Disproportionate Assets (DA) case registered in 1990.

The disproportionate assets include one multi-storeyed building at Tulasipur in Cuttack, one building at Laxmisagar in Bhubaneswar, a farm house of area 5.02 acres located at Athagarh, Cuttack, Bank and Postal deposits.

As per reports, during raids at properties linked to Basanta Kumar, former Deputy Director, Social Forestry, Bhubaneswar, the Vigilance sleuths found him and his wife Swarnalata possessing assets beyond his legal sources of income. Basanta Kumar was convicted in the DA case by the court on January 27, 2012.

Meanwhile the special court on Monday ordered for the confiscation of properties possessed by Swarnalata, a co-accused in the case.

–IANS

gyan/pgh

Related Posts

Cash at judge’s residence: SC rejects RTI application to disclose copy of in-house panel report

New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) The Supreme Court has turned down an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking a copy of the report of the top court-appointed in-house enquiry panel, which was formed to probe into cash-discovery allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma.

Rejecting the RTI application filed by a Maharashtra-based advocate, the apex court registry also refused to reveal the copy of communication written by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna to the President and Prime Minister to take action against Justice Varma.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court, itself in a press statement, revealed that then CJI Khanna had forwarded to the President and the Prime Minister the report of the in-house enquiry panel.

“Chief Justice of India, in terms of the In-House Procedure, has written to Hon’ble the President of India and Hon’ble the Prime Minister of India enclosing therewith copy of the 3-Member Committee report dated 03.05.2025 along with the letter/response dated 06.05.2025 received from Mr Justice Yashwant Varma,” read a press statement released on May 8.

Justice Varma is embroiled in a controversy surrounding the alleged discovery of a huge pile of burnt cash in the storeroom attached to his bungalow in Delhi after the fire brigade had gone there to douse a blaze on March 14. Following the alleged cash discovery, which sent shockwaves across the judicial corridors, the then CJI Khanna had constituted a 3-member committee to conduct an inquiry against Justice Varma.

Amid the in-house probe, Justice Varma was transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court.

The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended that the Centre repatriate Justice Varma to his parent High Court, i.e. the Allahabad HC.

Last week, a 2-judge Bench of the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea seeking criminal prosecution of Justice Varma.

“There was an in-house inquiry report. It has been forwarded to the President of India and the Prime Minister of India for action. If you are seeking a writ of mandamus, you have to first make a representation to those authorities before which the issue is pending,” a bench headed by Justice Abhay S. Oka told advocate Mathews J. Nedumpara, the lead petitioner-in-person.

“You make a representation calling upon them (the President and the PM) to take action. If they don’t take action, then you can come here,” added the Bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.

If Justice Varma has committed the offence of accumulating wealth through corrupt means, an impeachment by itself will not suffice, said the petition, demanding his criminal prosecution. “It was indisputable that the huge volumes of money that were burned and partly burned and clandestinely removed were nothing but bribe/corruption — a crime punishable under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Prevention of Corruption Act. There was no official explanation as to why no FIR was registered and why the criminal law was not set into motion, which would have meant the seizure of the currency notes securing the crime location, the arrest of suspects, etc.,” stated the plea.

–IANS

pds/vd

Law will be upheld: BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi slams pleas challenging Waqf Act validity

New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) BJP Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi on Monday hit out at political parties challenging the recent amendments to the Waqf Act in the Supreme Court, accusing them of politicising a law that has followed due constitutional process.

“The Waqf Amendment law has been enacted by fulfilling all necessary constitutional requirements step by step. It was introduced in Parliament, referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), and brought back with recommendations. Both Houses debated it extensively, with discussions stretching into the early morning. The President has given assent, and it is now law,” he said.

Trivedi’s remarks come after multiple petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, soon after its passage in Parliament on Friday.

Criticising the opposition parties, Trivedi said, “All opposition parties, who have repeatedly shown contempt for constitutional arrangements, are now rushing to the court. It’s strange that some even approached the court when the legislation was still a Bill. Today, political party leaders themselves are filing petitions.”

“Two things are evident. First, it is not in accordance with the dignity of the court to put anything political in the judicial process of the Supreme Court. Second, if each party is approaching the court individually, it shows they don’t trust each other and are competing among themselves,” he said.

Urging the opposition to respect the judicial process, he said, “Once you go to the Supreme Court, avoid political rhetoric. This not only undermines the dignity of the court but also the constitutional process you’ve been part of.”

Trivedi expressed full confidence in the court’s decision, stating that the government has “acted within the framework of the Constitution” and that the “court will uphold the law.”

Meanwhile, the political storm over the Act echoed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Legislative Assembly on Monday. The House saw protests from NC, Congress, PDP, and Independent MLAs, forcing Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather to adjourn proceedings for 15 minutes.

The MLAs demanded a discussion on the Act, but the Speaker refused to suspend the Question Hour.

Reacting to the developments, Trivedi said, “States like Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir opposing a law passed by Parliament in their assemblies is a violation of the Constitution’s spirit. No state legislature has the authority to pass adverse comments on a central law.”

“The bill being torn in the J&K Assembly is like tearing apart the spirit of the Constitution. These are the very people who keep the Constitution in their pockets but want to use it according to their own will. Their actions clearly show who poses a danger to the Constitution,” he said.

–IANS

sd/

13 injured as bus carrying Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims collides with parked truck in Jammu

Jammu, Jan 28 (IANS) At least 13 pilgrims were injured on Tuesday when a bus carrying devotees to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine met with an accident in J&K’s Jammu district.

Officials said the bus carrying pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine went out of the driver’s control and collided with a parked truck in the Nagrota area of the district.

“At least 13 people were injured in this accident. The injured were shifted to the government medical college (GMC) hospital in Jammu City where attending doctors said their condition was stable,” the officials added.

The injured included three children and two women pilgrims.

The police were ascertaining the cause of the accident.

Overloading and overspeeding are two major reasons for highway accidents in Jammu and Kashmir. Every year, around 1.25 crore devotees from all over the country come to pay obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi cave shrine situated atop the Trikuta Hills in the Reasi district of Jammu division.

Mata Vaishno Devi shrine board recently suspended the proposed Rs 250 crore ropeway project from Katra base camp town to the cave shrine. This was intended to help elderly devotees and children, who find the uphill 12 km trek from Katra to the cave shrine difficult. The decision to suspend the ropeway project was taken after ponywallahs, shopkeepers, hoteliers and small traders in Katra town agitated saying that the ropeway would deprive them of their livelihood.

The protesters forced a Sangharsh Samiti that brought life to a standstill in Katra town. The leaders of the Sangharsh Samiti were arrested by police while trying to restore order in the town. The government finally formed a committee that engaged the Sangharsh Samiti members in a dialogue after which the arrested leaders were released and the decision to construct the ropeway was put in abeyance. J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha is the chairman of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine board and also of the Shri Amarnathji shrine board.

–IANS

sq/dpb