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Congress opposes rights panel probe into ex-Speaker’s issue

BHUBANESWAR: The Congress on Wednesday criticised the Naveen Patnaik Government for its decision to request the State Human Rights Commission to probe the allegations of sexual harassment against former Assembly Speaker Maheswar Mohanty.

“What was the need for requesting the Human Rights Commission to probe into the allegations when the police had already registered a case against Mr. Mohanty on the basis of the complaint filed by suspended lady marshal of the Assembly Gayatri Panda,” the Leader of the Opposition J.B. Patnaik queried at a press conference here. “Will the Human Rights Commission conduct a parallel probe?” Mr. Patnaik asked.

The State government had on Tuesday announced its decision to request the Human Rights Commission to probe the allegations as a House Committee of the State Assembly could not be formed to look into the matter due to non-cooperation of the Opposition parties.

Reiterating the Opposition demand for an independent probe into the whole controversy, Mr. Patnaik demanded that the case that was being investigated by the women’s police station of the city be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a fair inquiry. “If the Chief Minister wanted to prove that he was clean, he should hand over the case to the CBI,” the Opposition leader said, while referring to the statement of the former Speaker that some important persons were involved in a conspiracy to defame him.

As regards the removal of Debasis Nayak as Information and Public Relation Minister in the wake of the controversy, the Opposition leader demanded that the Chief Minister should clarify as to why Mr. Nayak had lost his confidence.

“Why is the Chief Minister scared of ordering a CBI probe,” he said.

Stating that the State police cannot conduct a fair probe, the Opposition Leader said observed that only a CBI investigation could expose all those involved in the case.

Meanwhile, hundreds of women belong to the Congress and various women’s organisations participated in a dharna in the city demanding a CBI investigation into the allegations levelled by the suspended lady marshal against the former Speaker.

The participants in the dharna also demanded that Mr. Mohanty be arrested without delay.

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