Supreme Court grants interim protection from arrest to Odisha BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra in outraging of modesty case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday has granted interim protection from arrest to Odisha State legislator and Leader of the Opposition, Jayanarayan Mishra in connection with a case lodged after he allegedly slapped a woman police officer [Jayanarayan Mishra vs State of Odisha and ors]..A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra also sought the response of the Odisha government in the matter within four weeks."Dasti notice to the Standing Counsel for the State, in addition. In the meantime, the petitioner is protected from arrest," the Court directed..Jayanarayan Mishra, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, is accused of outraging the modesty of a woman, defamation, obscenity, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint and using criminal force on a public servant in the case against him.The Orissa High Court had denied him anticipatory bail in the matter on November 16, 2023, which led the legislator to approach the Supreme Court for relief. The case against Mishra is rooted in developments that took place on February 15 last year in front of the Sambalpur Collectorate, where the BJP was organising a sit-in protest.The agitators were stopped by the police when they rushed towards the gate of the office. A female police official approached Mishra, but he allegedly used profane language against her, touched her inappropriately, and slapped her on the cheek.A first information report (FIR) was lodged against Mishra over this incident.Mishra, meanwhile, denied the allegations and reportedly counter-alleged that it was the woman officer who had misbehaved and assaulted her. .Before the Supreme Court, the counsel for the BJP leader argued that there was no need for a custodial interrogation in the case since the alleged incident took place in broad daylight and was captured on video.It was also submitted that the police had not even summoned Mishra, even though many months have passed since the alleged incident. The case also involves omnibus allegations, the Court was told. "The police being ill-advised by some inimical persons of the petitioner lodged the above false case only to harass and defame the petitioner," Mishra's plea stressed.The Court eventually issued notice in the matter and adjourned the hearing by four weeks. .Senior Advocate Maninder Singh with advocates Sarthak Nayak and Satish Kumar appeared for Mishra..[Read order]