Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court on Monday dismissed the anticipatory bail petition filed by senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi, who is under scrutiny in connection with a high-profile bribery case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Justice V. Narasingh rejected Sethi’s plea, which had sought protection from arrest amid an ongoing probe into a bribery racket allegedly involving senior officials of the Bridge and Roof Company (India) Limited and private contractors.
The ruling was delivered by Justice V. Narasingh, who had earlier reserved judgment on the anticipatory bail petition on July 18.
The case dates back to December 2024, when the CBI seized ₹10 lakh in cash from a luxury vehicle in Bhubaneswar. The central agency arrested Chanchal Mukherjee, Group General Manager of Bridge and Roof Company, who was found in the car at the time. According to CBI officials, Mukherjee was allegedly caught accepting the bribe from the director of a Bhubaneswar-based private firm.
Following further investigation, two other individuals—Debadutta Mohapatra and Santosh Moharana—were arrested for their suspected roles in facilitating the bribe. The probe soon expanded, and Bishnupada Sethi’s name surfaced, prompting the CBI to conduct a raid at his official residence in Bhubaneswar in February 2025.
Though Sethi has not been named in the CBI’s FIR, he was summoned for questioning over his alleged links to the accused. In his public defence, the senior bureaucrat denied all allegations.
