HC grants bail to arrested newspaper owner Madhu Mohanty

The Orissa High Court today granted conditional bail to newspaper owner Madhu Mohanty, who was arrested by the CBI in September 2015 for his alleged links with the multi-crore Artha Tatwa (AT) group chit fund scam.
Justice S K Mishra imposed tough conditions while granting bail to Mohanty, whose bail applications were earlier turned down twice by the High Court.
A former owner of a vernacular daily, Mohanty is facing charges under sections 120-B, 406, 409, 411, 420, 468 and 471 of IPC and under sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act of 1978.

Mohanty's bail application was allowed by the High Court when his counsel informed the court that the key accused in the case, Pradeep Sethy and other directors of the AT group of companies, have already pleaded guilty in the trial court (CBI court) and have been convicted and sentenced.
Mohanty has been asked by the court to fix deposit a sum of Rs 1.9 crore in any bank, receipts of which are to be submitted to the trial court and produce two sureties with bail bond of Rs 25 lakh each for his bail.
The court asked him to deposit the amount in four instalments, the first of which (Rs 50 lakh) is to be deposited on April 30 and the subsequent instalments after every two months.

Among other conditions, Mohanty has been asked to submit his passport with the investigating officer and present himself before the officer whenever required.
The court, in its order, has also asked him not go outside the state without prior intimation to the investigating officer.