Abhijit Iyer Mitra Granted Bail By Orissa High Court

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Bhubaneswar: Journalist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, who has been in jail for over a month, was granted bail by the Orissa High Court on Wednesday.

Mitra was arrested on charges of offending the sentiments of the people of Odisha and insulting the members of the Odisha Assembly.

Abhijit was arrested in the national capital on September 20 but was granted bail by a Delhi court. He was asked to furnish a surety of Rs 1 lakh and told to join the probe in Bhubaneswar by September 28. However, the Supreme Court refused to grant him bail on October 4.

The Odisha Assembly had formed a House Committee, headed by Leader of the Opposition Narasingha Mishra, to look into the matter. The House Committee had asked the Delhi-based scribe to appear before it.

On October 23, after Abhijit appeared before the House panel, the Commissionerate Police in Bhubaneswar took him for interrogation in connection with a case filed at Sahid Nagar Police Station under sections 294, 295A, 153A, 500, 506 of IPC and section 67 of the Information Technology Act over his derogatory remarks against Odisha and Konark Sun Temple. Hours after questioning, the city police arrested him.

The Odisha Assembly on November 17 passed a motion to forgive Abhijit based on his unconditional apology. However, he remained in jail and it was only on December 4, that the Odisha Government said it would not grant the permission to prosecute Iyer-Mitra since the assembly had ‘forgiven’ him in the cases against him.

At present, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra is admitted to a hospital after he complained of feeling unwell.

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