Orissa HC Rejects IAS Officer Sethi’s Plea Against CBI Raid

Cuttack: Senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi suffered a major legal setback on Thursday as the Orissa High Court dismissed his petition challenging a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raid conducted at his Bhubaneswar residence in connection with a ₹10 lakh bribery case.

Sethi had approached the High Court seeking a stay on further action by the CBI and was initially granted interim protection. However, the court has now lifted that protection and rejected his plea, allowing the investigation to proceed unhindered.

The case pertains to a bribery allegation involving the Bridge and Roof Company (India) Limited, a central public sector enterprise based in Kolkata. In February, CBI officers conducted a 16-hour search at Sethi’s official residence in Bhubaneswar and questioned him in connection with the case.

Maintaining his innocence, Sethi earlier stated, “No FIR was filed against me. I don’t know anything about the raid. I have no connection with Chanchal Mukherjee and haven’t received any favour from the Bridge and Roof Company. Mukherjee had free access to the State Secretariat due to his previous postings in various departments.”

Chanchal Mukherjee, the Group General Manager of Bridge and Roof Company, was arrested by the CBI on December 7, 2024, near a star hotel in Bhubaneswar’s Jayadev Vihar. He was allegedly caught red-handed while accepting a bribe from Santosh Moharana, Director of Bhubaneswar-based Penta A Studio Private Ltd, along with a middleman, Debadutta Mohapatra.

With the High Court’s latest ruling, Sethi now remains under the CBI scanner as the investigation into the bribery case continues.