India News | HC Denies Bail to BJD MLA, Directs Him to Surrender by May 23

Cuttack, May 20 (PTI) Orissa High Court Friday rejected the bail application of ruling BJD MLA Prasant Kumar Jagdev and directed the Chilika legislator to surrender for his judicial custody by May 23.

Also Read | India Now Among Top 25 Countries Exporting in Defence Sector, Says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Steps will be taken against him if he failed to comply, Justice Shatrughna Pujahari ruled.

Also Read | Andhra Pradesh Shocker: Two 1st-Year Engineering Students Gangrape Minor in Guntur; Case Registered.

The lawmaker has at least a dozen criminal cases pending against him and is now suspended from the party.

He was arrested on March 12 this year by the Banapur police when he drove his car repeatedly into a crowd with an intention to murder his political opponents. Several persons, including some police personnel, were injured by the car, which had a fake number plate.

“Such indulgence and overt act can never be treated as becoming of a public representative. That apart, the series of criminal cases attached to his antecedent speak against his credibility to abide by condition, if any, imposed in case of his bail, more so when he has also not abided by earlier bail conditions,” the judge said rejecting his bail application.

On the health concerns expressed by the MLA, the judge said he could seek any medical check-up or treatment while in judicial custody.

Jagdev is now on interim bail granted by the High Court on health grounds.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)