Cuttack: In a first in the ongoing multi-crore chit fund probe in the State, the Orissa High Court today granted conditional bail to Artha Tatwa (AT) scam accused and Swastik India chairman Ranjan Dash, who has been chargesheeted by CBI in the ponzi scam.
However, the HC has directed Dash not to leave the country and hence asked him to surrender his passport before the court.
Dash, co-founder of the AT group and one of the closest associates of Banki BJD MLA Pravat Tripathy, had applied for bail in the court on the plea that he is suffering from cancer. However, in view of the negative report of a team of medical experts, the court order is awaited to ascertain on which ground the court granted bail to Dash.
Earlier, the court, while hearing his plea, had directed the Acharya Harihar Cancer Research Institute (AHCRI) to examine Dash and submit a report. Acting on the directive, a four-member team of doctors of the institute examined Dash and found that he is not suffering from cancer, sources said.
On December 11 last year, the court of Special CJM (CBI) had rejected a petition of the superintendent of Special Jail, Jharpada, to shift Dash to the Circle Jail at Choudwar on the ground that he was suffering from complications in his jaws and he needed frequent travel to SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, for treatment.
Ranjan, who acted as an advisor of the AT group, was arrested by the CBI in September last year for his alleged complicity in the scam.