Bolangir: BJD Patnagarh MLA Saroj Meher who was arrested by police for allegedly forcing a Public Works Department (PwD) engineer to do sit-ups in public last month has been granted bail in connection with the incident.
Hearing the case, a Special ADJ-II Court in Bhubaneswar granted conditional bail to the legislator on surety of Rs 25,000 and two bailers. The court has further directed the MLA to cooperate during the probe in connection with the case.
Even as the hearing into the case was held on July 1, the final decision on granting of bail was deferred after the court accepted the pleas of both the JE Jaykant Sabar and his wife Praveena Rajahans seeking more time to file affidavits in the case.
It may be mentioned that the BJD MLA had forced PwD junior engineer Jaykant Sabar to do hundred sit-ups in five minutes over alleged poor road construction in full public glare. The matter came to light on June 6 after a video purportedly showing the incident went viral on social media.
Though the newly elected MLA tendered an apology, after the wife of the JE lodged a complaint, police later arrested the legislator from Nuapada on June 24 under various IPC sections 341,353,500 and Atrocities Act.
He was intitially lodged at Patnagarh sub-jail and later shifted to Bhubaneswar Jharpara since cases pertaning to public representatives like MPs and MLAs are taken up for hearing at Special court in the capital.