Artha Tatwa scam: HC breather to Madhu Mohanty

Cuttack: After remaining behind bars for over two years, proprietor of Odia daily ‘Odisha Bhaskar’ Madhu Mohanty will finally walk out of jail as the Orissa High Court granted him conditional bail today in connection with the Artha Tatwa chit-fund scam.

While granting him bail against two bailers and surety of Rs 25 lakh each, the court also restricted him to leave the State without it's permission and has asked him to surrender his passport.

Setting another condition to cooperate with the investigating team till next six months, the court directed him to deposit Rs 1.90 cr in four installments. The first installment should be cleared by April 30 while three other installments should be paid at an interval of two months, the court ordered.

Mohanty, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2014 for his alleged complicity with the ponzi firm, was denied bail by the High Court twice earlier.

Mohanty had allegedly taken Rs 65 lakh from Artha Tatwa chief Pradeep Sethy for his business, but did not return the amount. He also forcibly occupied Sethy’s flat in Sailashree Vihar area of Bhubaneswar.