10-07-2025
Orissa High Court refuses to quash criminal proceedings against widow of ACF Soumya Ranjan
CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has refused to quash the criminal proceedings against Bidyabharati Panda, widow of assistant conservator of forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, in connection with his mysterious death in July 2021.
A single judge bench of Justice Sibo Sankar Mishra disposed of Panda's petition challenging the April 19, 2023 order of the SDJM, Paralakhemundi, which had taken cognisance of a murder complaint naming her and two others as accused. Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra had suffered 90 per cent burn injuries on the night of July 11, 2021, in his official quarters at Paralakhemundi. He succumbed to his injuries two days later, on July 13, at a private hospital in Cuttack.
His father Abhiram Mohapatra, subsequently lodged a complaint accusing Bidyabharati, the family cook Manmath Kumbha, and the then DFO Sangram Kesari Behera of murder. Although a Crime Branch investigation gave a clean chit to the accused, the SDJM court took cognisance of the murder complaint in April 2023 and summoned all three.
Challenging the summons, Bidyabharati approached the high court under Section 482 of the CrPC seeking quashing of the proceedings. However, Justice Mishra observed that the case was at a preliminary stage and involved contested facts, which made it appropriate for trial rather than early judicial intervention. 'The inherent power under Section 482 CrPC should be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional circumstances. The competing versions presented by both parties and the existence of disputed questions of fact make this an inappropriate case for quashing at this stage,' the judgment read.
Justice Mishra clarified that refusal to quash the case did not prevent the petitioner from seeking discharge during the trial. 'It is well settled that at the stage of issuing process, the magistrate is mainly concerned with the allegations made in the complaint or the evidence led in support of the same,' he said.
