Orissa HC slaps Rs 1L fine on Cong leader

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court today rejected a petition filed by Congress candidate Surendra Singh Bhoi, who was defeated in last Assembly polls and had challenged the win of Titilagarh MLA Tukuni Sahu, citing non-cooperation from the petitioner.

While hearing the petition, Justice Biswanath Rath also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Bhoi for wasting valuable time of the court.

Though the HC had earlier directed Bhoi to be present in the court as a witness, the Congress leader had not been paying any heed to that and were absent during the hearings.

Even today Bhoi was absent and his counsel told the court that he was not informed about the absence.