Judgments bring many to book in 2024

Intro: HC ensured that a 100-year-old freedom fighter gets the pension while confirming sentences against high-profile persons in different cases. At the same time, the court gave reprieve to a former ministerRs 5L fine for frivolous plea against rly minister On April 24, a fine of Rs 5 lakh was imposed on Bhagyadhar Behera, a 64-year-old Bhubaneswar-based company secretary, for filing a "frivolous and vexatious" plea and "abusing the process of court" with allegations against railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Behera sought direction from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to complete an inquiry within a stipulated time on his complaint alleging that Vaishnaw made false declarations while filing nominations for elections to the Rajya Sabha in 2019. The division bench of Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice M S Raman stated that the exemplary cost is being imposed to discourage the filing of such petitions. MLA's conviction housing loan scamOn April 10, the conviction of Mohammed Moquim (then sitting MLA Barabati - Cuttack) in a loan scam involving the Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) was confirmed, affecting the Congress leader's prospects of contesting in the May 2024 elections. The special vigilance court, Bhubaneswar sentenced Moquim (as managing director, Metro Builders Private Limited) to three years imprisonment after convicting him, former IAS officer and MD ORHDC Vinod Kumar, and two others in connection with the loan scam on Sept 29, 2022. On April 23, the Supreme Court suspended Moquim's sentence. However, he remained disqualified from contesting in the elections as the Supreme Court suspended only his sentence and not his conviction. Reprieve for former minister On Oct 1, the order of the court of judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Salipur, which had taken cognisance of offences against BJD leader and former minister Pratap Jena as an accused in the Mahanga double murder case, was quashed. Justice Gourishankar Satapathy observed that JMFC's order is not only unsustainable in the eye of law but also that the proceeding initiated against Jena is absolutely without jurisdiction, as his name was added as an additional accused who was not charge-sheeted even after two rounds of investigation, and the trial court had already assumed jurisdiction over the matter. BJP leader Kulamani Baral, who was the block chairman of Mahanga, and his associate Dibyasingha Baral were brutally killed by unidentified miscreants on Jan 2, 2021, while they were returning home on a motorcycle.Former MLA's life sentence confirmed On Oct 30, the life sentence given to former MLA Ram Murti Gamango (79) for the murder of his wife 29 years ago was confirmed. Gamango's wife, Sashirekha, died in his MLA quarters in Bhubaneswar on Aug 29, 1995. The third additional sessions judge, Bhubaneswar, passed the order of conviction and sentence on June 27, 2023. Gamango challenged it in a criminal appeal in the high court the same year. Gamango was on bail during the trial. While in custody following conviction, the high court granted him bail on Aug 11, 2023, and suspended further execution of the sentence imposed upon him pending disposal of the appeal.Pension for 100-yr-old freedom fighterOn December 23, the state govt was directed to grant a freedom fighter's pension to 100-year-old Chakradhar Pradhan of Mayurbhanj, who was denied a pension for lack of incarceration proof. Justice Sashikant Mishra asked the govt to pay the pension to him under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme -1980 from the date of his application in 1988. (Compiled by Lalmohan Patnaik)
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