Bhubaneswar, March 18 – The Orissa High Court Friday granted bail for a second time to a BJP legislator who was convicted for a murder in the 2008 anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal district.
The Orissa High Court granted bail to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Manoj Kumar Pradhan on condition that he will not travel out of the country without permission. While granting the bail, the court also directed that he will not try to influence witnesses in other riot cases, he said.
A fast track court June last year awarded Pradhan seven years of rigorous imprisonment. Pradhan appealed against the sentence in the high court and moved for bail. The high court granted him bail July 7 last year.
Kanak Rekha Naik, the widow of the man who was killed and burnt in the riots, then moved the apex court challenging the high court’s grant of to Pradhan.
The Supreme Court in January this year set aside the high court bail order, ruling that a public representative could not be treated differently. The apex court had, however, remanded the matter to the high court for re-hearing.
Pradhan surrendered to a fast track court in Kandhamal district March 9 and was sent to jail.The government has set up two fast track courts in the district to try criminal cases related to the communal riots.
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