HC issues notice to RS member in defamation suit

Admitting a writ filed by Odisha State Non-gazette Officers' Coordination Committee general secretary Braja Nanda, a single judge bench of Justice Indrajit Mahanti issued notice to Mohapatra.

Nanda alleged in his petition that the parliamentarian had uttered defamatory remarks against him while addressing a public meeting in Bhubaneswar on February 6, 2010. The same was reported in a vernacular daily, of which Mohapatra is the chairman.

Seeking criminal proceedings against the MP, who has been suspended from ruling BJD, Nanda in his writ alleged Mohapatra's public utterances had tarnished his image in public.

Nanda had earlier filed a damage suit against Mohapatra in the SDJM court of Bhubaneswar, which was rejected in 2010. Challenging the order, Nanda had also approached the district court, which too was quashed last year.

A similar plea of Nanda is currently pending disposal in a lower court here in Cuttack.