Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], September 1 (ANI): The Orissa High Court has held that the arrest of former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Bikram Kumar Panda in connection with the high-profile murder of advocate and BJP leader Pitabas Panda was vitiated due to non-compliance with mandatory constitutional and statutory safeguards.
Delivering judgment in BLAPL No. 13860 of 2025, Single Judge Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra ordered that the petitioner be forthwith set at liberty on conditional bail, subject to terms imposed by the trial court.
Analysing recent Supreme Court precedents, including Vihaan Kumar vs State of Haryana (2025) and Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra (2026), the High Court reaffirmed that informing an arrestee of the precise grounds of arrest is a mandatory constitutional requirement rather than a mere procedural formality.
The Court observed that the entry "In the strength of above noted case" fails the standard of providing meaningful and specific facts constituting grounds of arrest. The State failed to establish contemporaneous documentary proof showing that written grounds were communicated to the arrestee or his relatives.
The Court said that while the non-communication vitiates the arrest and entitlement to immediate release, it does not invalidate the charge sheet, ongoing investigation, or the merits of the pending trial.
Implication as a co-conspirator relied heavily on co-accused statements and call records, the evidentiary value of which must be determined during a full-fledged trial.
Expressing concern over repeated procedural lapses by law enforcement, the High Court issued directives to the Home Department and the Director General of Police, Odisha, to ensure that all arresting officers strictly adhere to constitutional and BNSS guidelines regarding the service of written grounds of arrest.
The High Court directed that Bikram Panda be released upon furnishing a bail bond under Section 91 of the BNSS, 2023, subject to terms fixed by the learned 3rd Additional District & Sessions Judge, Berhampur.
The mandated conditions include strictly refraining from harassing, threatening, or influencing the victim's family, the informant, or any prosecution witnesses and any breach of conditions imposed by the High Court or the trial court will entail immediate re-arrest in accordance with law.
Panda approached the High Court under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, after his bail applications were rejected by lower courts.
Senior Advocates Ashok Kumar Parija and Subir Palit argued that Panda was never served with written grounds of arrest, violating Articles 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution of India, as well as Sections 47, 48, and 62 of the BNSS, 2023. The arrest memo merely stated "In the strength of above noted case" under the grounds column--a statement the defence argued was constitutionally vague and inadequate.
They further maintained that the prosecution's case rested primarily on co-accused confessional statements and circumstantial Call Detail Records (CDRs), which are insufficient to justify prolonged detention.
Additional Government Advocate Partha Sarathi Nayak and advocate BK Ragada argued that the grounds were orally communicated in Odia to Panda, who deliberately refused to sign the arrest papers in the presence of independent advocate witnesses.
They contended that the family was telephonically informed, that substantial digital and oral evidence linked Panda to the conspiratorial chain, and that his release posed a grave risk of witness tampering.
On the night of October 6, 2025, around 10:00 PM, advocate Pitabas Panda, a sitting member of the Odisha State Bar Council, was shot dead at close range by two motorcycle-borne assailants near Kalyan Mandap in Berhampur as he was returning to his Baikuntha Nagar residence.
Following an FIR registered by the victim's brother, the police launched a wide-ranging probe involving CCTV analysis, digital forensics, and interstate coordination.
The prosecution alleged a complex seven-layered conspiracy driven by deep-seated political, personal, and financial rivalries. According to the chargesheet, Bikram Panda and former Berhampur Mayor Sivashankar "Pintu" Dash acted as top-level conspirators, engaging middlemen and contract killers to execute the crime.
In total, sixteen individuals were apprehended, and Panda was arrested from his residence at midnight on October 22, 2025. (ANI)
Odisha HC grants conditional bail to former BJD MLA Bikram Panda in Pitabas Panda murder case over statutory defect
