Ponzi scam: Court grants interim relief to BJD MLA

The Orissa High Court today granted interim relief from arrest to BJD MLA Pravat Tripathy till October 13 in the ponzi scheme scam being investigated by the CBI.
The single-judge bench of Justice D Dash, which had yesterday reserved the order on Tripathy's anticipatory bail application, said that the CBI cannot arrest him till October 13.
The application for anticipatory bail of Tripathy, Banki MLA, would be taken up on the next date of hearing, he said.
The HC ruling came as a major relief to the BJD ahead of the October 15 by-election in Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat as any step to arrest Tripathy would have been an embarrassment for the ruling party as he was a former government chief whip.

Tripathy had approached the HC seeking anticipatory bail after he was questions and his houses were searched by the CBI earlier this month in connection with his alleged link with a ponzi scheme company's chairman and managing director, who is already in the agency's custody.
The CBI counsel had opposed Tripathy's application and said that granting anticipatory bail at this stage would hamper its investigation.

The CBI also told the court that an audio CD of a telephonic conversation between Tripathy and Artha Tatwa group CMD Pradeep Sethi is available with it in which the former is allegedly urging the latter to help him organise a local cultural festival.

Contesting the CBI's contention, Tripathy's counsel Pitambar Acharya told the court that the investigating agency has not been able to produce any conclusive evidence to establish any link between him and Sethi.
CBI sleuths had raided Tripathy's houses at Banki and in the city. They had also raided the house of one of Tripathy's supporters in Banki and seized certain documents from a local cooperative bank.